With LeBron James missing the Los Angeles Lakers’ Sunday night contest against the Brooklyn Nets, it continued the unfortunate streak of James and Nets star Kevin Durant not facing off with one another on the court. The two have not played against each other since 2018 when LeBron was in his first year with the Lakers and Durant was a member of the Golden State Warriors.
As two of the greatest to ever play the game, any potential matchup between the two is highly anticipated, but for some reason the two just haven’t been able to be on the court at the same time in recent years. But while many on the outside have noticed, Durant himself didn’t realize it was a thing.
“I wasn’t thinking about it until y’all started bringing it up,” Durant said following the contest.
It does almost seem unbelievable that the two haven’t faced off in that long, but both have also dealt with injuries over the past few years. But Durant still has a lot of respect for James and loves the fact that they both remain relevant at this stage of their careers.
“He’s obviously a top-2 player to ever play, top-3 player to ever play the game so it’s always gonna be excitement when he steps on the floor,” Durant added. “We’ve been around for so long that people seen so many battles between us two at the highest stage, that people look forward to it. I guess it’s cool that we’re still relevant at an older age and people want to come watch us play.”
Even though there is a ton of respect between the two, Durant also revealed that the two didn’t speak during or after the contest. And the Nets star admitted that he was fine with the Lakers star missing the game as it would normally lead to an easier time for his team to get a win.
“Nah. I mean tonight they played great without him, but usually he’s a load to deal with. We needed wins lately so to have him off the floor is supposed to be an easier game, but they played great tonight.”
Anthony Davis led the way with LeBron out and dominated the Nets front line with 37 points and 18 rebounds in the Lakers’ 13 point win. Both the Lakers and Nets have been disappointing this season, but for the Lakers, it was encouraging to see the team thrive with James out of the lineup.
Darvin Ham believes four days off will benefit LeBron James’ injury
Following Sunday’s victory against the Nets, the Lakers have four days off before taking the floor again on Friday against the Detroit Pistons. And Darvin Ham believes this is perfect for LeBron James’ recovery from injury.
“I think him being out is just as much about cautionary and him, you know, this part of the season being 12 games and not just rushing him out there because of the circumstances […] But at the same time, with 70 games left to be played, here we have the schedule, a favorable schedule in terms of when the strain in his abductor where he can sit, and now we have four days without a game. Continue to rehab, continue to get stronger, and be prepared to come back.
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