{"id":1903516,"date":"2026-04-26T11:00:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T08:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1903516"},"modified":"2026-04-26T11:00:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T08:00:45","slug":"lebron-james-kevin-durant-and-a-legendary-rivalrys-possible-last-stand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1903516","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James, Kevin Durant and a legendary rivalry\u2019s possible last stand"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NBA basketball has always been a story written by its stars \u2014\u00a0and this year\u2019s first round was supposed to <\/i>feature two of the game\u2019s most prolific on the same stage.<\/p>\n

For years, LeBron James and Kevin Durant have defined NBA greatness, winning championships and chasing one another in the sport\u2019s defining moments. Now, what may be their last postseason chapter is slipping away.<\/p>\n

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Durant missed Game 3 on Friday night, and the Lakers rolled again, taking a commanding 3-0 series lead. James, at 41, has been dominant in the series without his star teammates Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Austin Reaves. Durant has now missed Games 1 and 3, leaving his status for Sunday\u2019s Game 4 uncertain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sad final twist for a rivalry that once belonged exclusively to the game\u2019s grandest stage in June.<\/p>\n

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The rivalry<\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s the fourth time the two titans of the sport have faced off in the playoffs. The previous three all came in the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

Their first meeting came in the 2012 NBA Finals, when <\/b>James was in his second year with the Miami Heat and on the precipice of his place among the league\u2019s greatest ever. He just had to win his elusive first finals.<\/p>\n

Nine seasons in, a 27-year-old James, along with big three running mates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, ran into a 23-year-old, already three-time scoring champion, Kevin Durant and his ascending Oklahoma City Thunder. Aside from Durant were young, burgeoning superstars in Russell Westbrook and James Harden.<\/p>\n

James was searching for his long-awaited first title, while Durant was looking for confirmation of his ascension.<\/p>\n

The league MVP outdueled the young incumbent, with James averaging 28.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in a five-game gentleman\u2019s sweep of Durant and the Thunder. It was James\u2019 first of four NBA titles and first of four finals MVPs.<\/p>\n

Five years later, Durant answered when he joined the Golden State Warriors. Durant averaged 35.2 points per game, returning the favor in a gentleman\u2019s sweep over James as the Warriors cruised to a 4-1 series win. It was Durant\u2019s first championship since James defeated him in 2012, and this time, he stood at the peak. Durant also won finals MVP.<\/p>\n

In 2018, the two ran it back again. For the second-straight year, Durant and James faced off in the NBA Finals. It was the third time the two matched up on the game\u2019s biggest stage and the fourth consecutive time James led Cleveland against Golden State.<\/p>\n

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\n Kevin Durant led the Warriors to a 122-103 victory over LeBron James and the Cavaliers in Game 2 of the 2018 NBA Finals. (Ezra Shaw \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Durant averaged 28.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game in a series sweep over Cleveland, winning his second straight finals MVP. James averaged 34.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 10.0 assists per game in a futile effort, unable to stop his opposing star from becoming one of only a select group of players in NBA history to win two consecutive finals MVPs, a list that includes James, who won his first against Durant six years prior.<\/p>\n

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After the 2018 series, the two juggernauts largely went their separate ways from meeting in the NBA Finals. James joined the Western Conference, signing with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he has been ever since. Durant wasn\u2019t there to meet him for James\u2019 most recent finals run in the COVID-19 bubble in 2020, where he won his fourth title.<\/p>\n

The reality\u00a0<\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n

Now the two are the elder statesmen of the league. And even in the twilight of their careers, neither has faded from superstardom.<\/p>\n

James is in his NBA-record 23rd season and is still leading his team deep into April. James averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists in 60 regular-season games for the Lakers. It\u2019s his lowest points per game average since his rookie season in 2003-04. It\u2019s also the 23rd straight season in which he has averaged over 20 points, an NBA record.<\/p>\n

Durant is still one of the game\u2019s most gifted scorers in his 18th season. The 37-year-old put up 26 points a night in 78 games for the Houston Rockets. It\u2019s the most games he\u2019s played since he left the Warriors in 2018-19, and it\u2019s the 17th consecutive season Durant has averaged over 25 points per game.<\/p>\n

But this series has turned into a reminder of how fragile time can be. Instead of one more showcase between legends, the Lakers have seized control of the series while Durant, who was missing on the Rockets\u2019 bench<\/a>, is trying to get back on the floor.<\/p>\n

In the current first-round series James has averaged 25.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 8.7 assists through the first three games. On the contrary, Durant has only played in one game this series, a Game 2 loss, where he recorded 23 points and a career-playoff high nine turnovers.<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"LeBron<\/p>\n
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\n LeBron James\u2019 future: Retire, stay with Lakers or join Warriors\/Cavs? What we know\n <\/div>\n
\n Retirement is a real possibility for LeBron James this summer. But a recent resurgence \u2014 and the Lakers winning \u2014 might delay that.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

The unknown\u00a0<\/b><\/b><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s possible this is the last playoff matchup between James and Durant.<\/p>\n

Their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s are secure. James is the NBA\u2019s all-time leading scorer. Durant is one of the greatest scorers the game has ever seen, ranking fifth all-time. Both are multi-time champions. Both are future Hall of Famers. They\u2019ve long since carried the torch, alongside Stephen Curry, and defined an era.<\/p>\n

And yet they continue, even with aging bodies and retirement looming.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m just so grateful that I graced the league with these guys at the same time,\u201d Durant recently told The Athletic<\/i><\/a> of James and Curry. \u201cBecause we\u2019ve competed so hard against one another for so long, and then when you get older you start appreciating how hard it is to get up every day. You got aches and bruises sometimes, you don\u2019t even know where they come from.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one knows for certain if this is their final postseason meeting. But if it is, it may come with something far more quietly than a first-round battle laden with personal history.<\/p>\n

With James still pushing forward and Durant fighting to return, the clock on one of the league\u2019s defining rivalries is suddenly running out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NBA basketball has always been a story written by its stars \u2014\u00a0and this year\u2019s first round was supposed to feature two of the game\u2019s most prolific on the same stage. For years, LeBron James and Kevin Durant have defined NBA greatness, winning championships and chasing one another in the sport\u2019s defining moments. Now, what may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1903516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1903516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1903516\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1903516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1903516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1903516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}