LeBron, Durant and a new chapter in his rivalry of 20 years
“Crank That (soulja boy)” It was song number 1 on Billboard lists. “Saw IV” was the highest grossing film. The first iPhone had just been released.
It was a pre -season party for oblivion in October 2007, in which James He scored 14 points and barely played in the second half. DurantA rookie, left the bench to score 15 points, including a triple in the last quarter that sealed the five -point victory of the Seattle Supersonics.
“I don’t even remember it,” he said James in 2023. “And I remember a lot.”
Durant and James They are veterans or whatever they want to call them. They have been part of the NBA for three different decades and have matured together through a series of historical milestones.
They trained together at the end of summer in Akron, Ohio, the hometown of Jamesuploading a famous hill next to the Higher School of James While the students, stunned, peeked through the windows.
They played a flag football match and transmitted it free online during the 2011 employer closing (the team of James He won the victory with his TouchDown Final Pick-Six).
They starred in one of the few recent memorable moments of the game of stars when, as team captains in 2022, they graciously avoided James Harden after Harden asked to be changed from the Brooklyn Nets of Durant.
Last summer in Paris, they were pillars of Team using a second Olympic gold together 12 years after winning it in London.
And, of course, three NBA finals played with each other: James won with the Miami Heat against the Oklahoma City Thunder of Durant in 2012; and Durant He won with the Golden State Warriors against the Cleveland Cavaliers of James In 2017 and 2018.
“We both thought we should have more rings,” he said James Last summer during the Olympic Games, “but we don’t do it because of the other.”
After 18 seasons and 43 games with each other14 games in the finals (plus a quarter of the NBA Cup), James and Durant They continue to find ways to revitalize their rivalry. And, once again, this season promises to be one of the most important stories in the league, since Durant He will play against James With his sixth different shirt, this time with the Houston Rockets, after another explosive transaction that involved one of these two future members of the Hall of Fame.
James He will face Durant With a new superstar companion for the fourth time (if we count Dwyane Wade, Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis on the list) at the beginning of their first full season with Luka Doncic (Durant He has not yet faced the Lakers when they both play).
“LeBron always insists on maintaining the main, the main one, “he said Durant in the Olympic Games last summer.
“Still get up and go to the gym at 6 in the morning and want face “.
The Lakers and Rockets are expected to compete for a position in the playoffs throughout the season, with James and Durant Still as protagonists, after so many years. Both play on the opening night. They will face Christmas again, the fifth time they are scheduled to play in the main showcase of the NBA regular season.
“If you do not feel that fourth sensation in the stomach or nerves when you compete against the best, I guess at that time you know it’s over,” he said James Last season. “If you don’t get up to play against KD, Steph (Curry) or some of the great talents we have in the League, then I lost the essence of the game.”
But there are two other different ways in which James and Durant They are elbow again at the beginning of the 2025-26 season: the 23rd year of James and the 19th of Durant.
On numerous occasions throughout their careers, they were leaders of superequipos, either James In Cleveland or Miami, or Durant In Golden State, Brooklyn and (at least in an attempt) in Phoenix. But now, for the first time, both look at the same team, one better.
After winning the championship in June and signing maximum contract extensions with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren in July, the Oklahoma City Thunder is classified.
James (10) and Durant (Four) add a combined total of 14 appearances in the finals, but for either of them to add more this season, it is very likely that they not only have to overcome each other in the postseason, but also to find a way to dethrone the defense champions.
The Thunder has a large number of young people and depth, and is built, in many ways, to undermine the era that James and Durant They opened with their sound moves of free agents and changes of great impact that sought to create champions nuclei in July.
When Durant and James They played for the first time in 2007, Gilgeous-Alexander was only 9 years old. Williams had 6. Holmgren had 5.
“We are at a point where we have boys who were children when we start in the league and inspire them,” he said Durant last year. “And now we play against them.”
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Kevin Durant and Rockets are the perfect marriage
After being negotiated to Houston by the Suns, the veteran player makes the Rockets automatic candidates to challenge the NBA champion, the Thunder, at the West Conference.
The other situation is thatfor the first time, so much James as Durant They face legitimate uncertainty about their future after the 2025-26 season, partly because the changing nature of team formation has forced their teams to overcome them and point beyond them.
James And the Lakers did not negotiate a new contract this summer, and after James He exercised his player option and assured that he would be a free agent in 2026, it was the first time in his career that has no contract or option for next season.
Naturally, the Lakers have gone from structuring their future around James40 years old, as a centerpiece, to Doncic, 26, who signed a celebrated three -year contract extension earlier this month.
When Durant He gave the Suns a list of teams that he would like to be changed, including the rockets, implied that he would be willing to extend his contract there as part of a transfer.
But a contractual agreement was not reached in June and, like Jamesit is also planned to become free agent without restrictions next summer.
The Rockets and Durant They have held conversations about a new contract and it is believed that they will reach an agreement, according to Fuentes, but have not yet reached an agreement.
Durantas well as Jamesthe centerpiece is no longer considered, since Houston is built around a young nucleus of players acquired through the Draft.
Rockets come to Durant As a final component, a veteran who makes them a true candidate, while in charge of key players such as Jabari Smith Jr. and Fred Vanvleet, who signed great contracts this summer, and Alperen Sengun, an All-Star of 2025 who signed a contract in the summer of 2024. But you also have to consider Amen Thompson and Tari Eason, two Contracts next year.
In the end, Durant I could have to accept a lower contract, which has been since 2011, if you want to stay in Houston.
As is James It is disappearing as the visible face of its franchise, nobody tries to insult these former MVP. Both teams simply face modern realities or the construction of templates for contending equipment in the APRON era.
Even so, before anyone begins to make retrospective, James It was selected for the second All-NBA team last season and Durant He averaged 26.6 points and had 50% or more success in field shots for 13th consecutive season.
James and Durantif they manage to stay healthy, they will have an important influence on the development of this season. They are not going down the rhythm, although their age suggests that they should.
“I have had so many battles with KD over the years and we don’t have many clashes,” he said James After a match against the Suns last winter. “You should never take it for granted.”
