Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James and new Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant faced off for the first time this season on Thursday night. James and the Lakers rallied in the fourth quarter to take home the 100-95 victory, their first win of the season, despite an incredible 39-point, 11-rebound performance from Durant.
It’s the 36th time that Durant and James have faced off against one another, including 22 regular season battles and 14 postseason battles. Durant and James are playing in the same conference for the first time in their careers, but they met in three NBA Finals: 2012, 2017 and 2018.
James and Durant have had some classic matchups against one another, with Durant winning two of three Finals but James getting the better of Durant in a majority of their total meetings (21 of 36). This marked the first time they squared off since Christmas 2018 though, so it had been a while.
James spoke about what it’s like to face off against Durant now and the history of battles between the two over the years.
“Absolutely. I mean, I never take for granted opportunities, the games that we get out to be on the same floor at the same time. We’ve had so many battles, but you know, his career and my career, we’ve just been able to make so many plays individually, for respective teams throughout that and, you know, being able to be in two Olympics with him as well. We don’t have many matchups left. Not sure how many of you have left. So you don’t ever want to take it for granted when you’re essentially a great player and one of the best that’s ever played this game. It’s always a treat.”
After taking some time to reflect, James also got some vivid memories of the first time he ever faced off against Durant back on Jan. 8, 2008 when he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Durant was with the now defunct Seattle SuperSonics.
“I’ll be honest, I do not remember. I remember a lot. But that’s what I don’t remember the first time I played KD, but he was in Seattle. I think it was in Cleveland,” James said. “My understanding now my mind is starting to do. I’m starting to remember now. Sorry, I remember now, I’ll tell you one thing is a lot stronger now. A lot of people always talk about his weight, or whatever the case may be. KD is he will get you on a ball fake for sure on the floor. So he’s put in a lot of work, but he’s just always been just a natural-born scorer. You have certain guys just come into this league. That’s just, that’s what they do. And there’s nothing you can do about it. Carmelo Anthony was one of those guys. Allen Iverson is one of those guys. Kevin Durant is one of those guys. You just hope that they miss. You just play great defense. And maybe you can get a couple of turnovers on him and make it a little tough on him. But we felt like we made it as tough as it could be tonight. Like I said, it’s a treat to be out there with KD.”
Durant and James are both locks to enter the Hall of Fame, as they easily are among the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball. And for both of them to sustain an elite level of play for as long as they have shows the incredible work both players have put in.
James and Durant have been playing marquee matchups since 2008, and now that they occupy the same division, they’ll see each other with even more frequency in 2023-24.
James has 28-30 minute guideline, not restriction
Opening Night showed that Darvin Ham has a plan in place to manage James through the regular season as he only played 29 minutes in L.A.’s loss to the Denver Nuggets. The four-time championship has averaged 38 minutes throughout his illustrious career, so this was certainly a change and will truly test the depth of the roster to produce when he is not on the floor.
Throughout a demanding season, it is certainly ideal to make sure James is 100% and ready for the postseason. However, recent reports state that Ham’s range of playing his star 28-30 minutes is a guideline and not a hard cap and that proved to be true with him playing 35 minutes against the Suns.
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