All You Need to Know About the Biggest LeBron James Rivals

LeBron James is arguably one of the biggest entities in the world of sports. Furthermore, James is considered as the GOAT by many in the history of the NBA as well. Dubbed as the ‘Chosen One,’ James' path to glory was seen imminent, given the kind of prospect and talent that he was since his high school. However, one does not reach the upper echelons of greatness without making some rivals and enemies on the way.

It's true that we hardly see James embroiled in any kind of major controversies or beef with a major public entity. But if one tries crossing ways with the King, it doesn't usually end well all the time.

In this article we discuss some of the few people who dared crossing ways with LeBron James and quite evidently, regretted doing the same.

LeBron James' Biggest Rivals

LeBron James always lets his performance speak for his opponents. James has humiliated almost every one of his rivals who have tried trash talking to him on the court or doubted his capabilities in popular media. Here are five such individuals who are now regretting their decisions of ever picking beef with LeBron James.

#5 Stephen A. Smith

The most recent victim of LeBron James' vengeance is the ESPN sports pundit, Stephen A. Smith. Smith has been quite critical of James' son Bronny getting drafted into the league, despite not being ready enough to compete in the NBA. Some of Smith's comments were taken in distaste by James, who chose to stand with his son and confront Smith after a win against the New York Knicks on March 6. Things escalated even further when both Smith and James started throwing jabs at each other through their podcast appearances and social media posts. However, the popular opinion holds LeBron James to be right in this regard, doing his role as a father to defend his family and most importantly, his son.

#4 Paul Pierce

Paul Pierce is very well known to have never liked LeBron James. When James was drafted into the league in 2003, Pierce was playing his fifth season in the league and was already an established star for the Boston Celtics. However, for many of the star NBA players of that time, having a rookie being more popular than them was something very unacceptable.

During their faceoffs in the league, Pierce had some of the best individual on-court battles with LeBron James which is yet to be replicated in the league. The ultimate tipping point to this beef was when Pierce spat towards the Cleveland Cavaliers bench during one of LeBron's first preseason matchups.

However, since his retirement, Pierce has been on a relentless hate train for James, never missing any chance to take a shot on LeBron's career. However, the ultimate revenge LeBron could have was spoiling Pierce's jersey retirement ceremony in 2018. The Cavs secured a blowout victory against the Celtics, thus ruining Paul Pierce's special night at the TD Garden. Perhaps, the Truth was one of the most premier LeBron James rivals to rank in this list.

#3 Joakim Noah

Joakim Noah emerged as a breakout player for a Chicago Bulls team that had Jimmy Butler and Derek Rose on the roster. Noah played collegiate basketball for the Florida Gators and won two national championships in a row before getting drafted to the NBA. However, Noah was a hot head coming off the bench, who never refused to keep his words under control. As a rookie, Noah was even suspended from the team for verbally berating Bulls assistant coach Ron Adams at a shootaround.

Noah and LeBron James' beef began in 2009 when the Bulls center tried chastising James from the Bench during a matchup between the Bulls and the Cavs. Furthermore, the beef reached it's boiling point during the 2013 playoffs when Noah reached in after the whistle and James took exception. This earned both the player double-technicals, further fueling their hatred for each other.

The beef was quite personal for Noah, to the point where Noah had started picking shots at the city of Cleveland.

However, the nail to the coffin was when Noah tried recruiting James to the Bulls ahead of James' free agency, LeBron never called back. Guess it was always LBJ who had the last laugh. Joakim Noah is one of the only LeBron James rivals to still continue going on a tirade about the King on his podcast appearances.

#2 DeShawn Stevenson

DeShawn Stevenson is not a guy any NBA fan would think of when talking about the league. Stevenson was an average player by all means, but being a first round player meant he had a fairly decent career to start with.

Stevenson was a loud and about player and was not subtle about his disdain for James, even getting the rapper Souilja Boy to throw shots at James when the Washington Wizards were playing the Cavs at home in CapitalOne Arena. However, over time, Stevenson was humiliated by James who would decimate Stevenson's team during the prime years of his career. A valuable lesson that Stevenson still recounts from his NBA career is to not mess with King James. Perhaps, he is considered one of the greatest LeBron James rivals of all time.

#1 Lance Stephenson

Lance Stephenson was perhaps the only legitimate rival LeBron James had over the years. Stephenson and James' rivalry was particularly at it's peak when James' Miami Heat met Stephenson's Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Stephenson is famously known for taunting LeBron James, especially blowing into James' year which has now turned into a viral meme amongst NBA fans.

Stephenson's taunts and gimmicks on James worked out when the Pacers were able to hand 2 playoff upsets against the Heat in 2012. However, the duo seems to now have squashed their beef as James was recently noted hyping Stephenson's music on his IG story. Perhaps, Stephenson's brief tenure as a Laker alongside James might have helped into bringing a much better understanding between the two veterans of the league.