The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Phoenix Suns in their preseason finale on Thursday. Things got away from the Lakers late after they put in their deep reserves, but it was an extremely competitive matchup when both teams played their regulars with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant all playing a decent amount of minutes.
For James and Durant, two of the greatest players in NBA history, being on the court together was a big deal as it has been a long time since that has been the case. Not since Christmas Day 2018 when LeBron was with the Cavaliers and Durant was a member of the Warriors had the two shared the floor and Durant was thankful to be able to do so again.
After the game, Durant called it an honor to share the floor with the Lakers superstar, noting that he and LeBron bring the best out of everyone regardless of the stage, via The Arizona Republic:
“It’s always dope being on the floor with one of the best to ever do it, top five best to ever do it,” Durant said. “It brings the best out of everybody in the arena, the fans, the workers, the players, the coaches. So, it’s always an honor no matter what the capacity is. It could be a pickup game. We bring the best out of everybody.”
James and Durant, along with Stephen Curry, are the premier players of this generation, but all are in the later stages of their career. Durant understands and thus, appreciates any time he is able to be on the court with LeBron:
“It’s an honor,” Durant said. “I know we both getting up there. It might be towards the end of this little back and forth, but it’s always good to get some moments on the floor with him.”
This time it was a preseason meeting but in less than a week, barring anything unforeseen, the two will be on the court together once again as the Lakers host the Suns in their home opener on Thursday. While there will still be respect, both will be doing everything possible to ensure their side will come away with a win.
Frank Vogel calls Lakers’ LeBron James and Suns’ Kevin Durant iconic players
It is unfortunate that James and Durant have been unable to face off in so many years. Many fans finally got that chance on Thursday, and one of them was current Suns coach and former Lakers coach Frank Vogel, who had high praise for both prior to the contest.
“Just two iconic figures in the game of basketball today and forever will be two iconic figures in the game of basketball,” Vogel said. “Basically dominated this generation in different ways, so it has been something that the fans have missed out on since it’s been that long since they’ve shared a court together. So I’m excited to see them out there together.”
Durant finished with 21 points and four rebounds while LeBron had 19 and six in the Lakers loss.
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