“Bron really gotta run American gladiators-type gauntlet” – LeBron James facing Kevin Durant early next season has NBA fans hyped again

By Adam Taylor

Modified Aug 11, 2023 23:11 GMT

2018 NBA Finals - Game Three — LeBron James facing Kevin Durant early next season has NBA fans hyped

NBA fans have been given a monster game to look forward to in the LA Lakers' home opener. According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, LeBron James and Kevin Durant will go head-to-head for the first time since 2018 as the Lakers and Phoenix Suns get an early start on what could be a fascinating rivalry.

Shams Charania gives update on LeBron James vs Kevin Durant

As you can imagine, both Lakers and Suns fans shared their reactions to the news as they begin preparing for what projects to be an incredible NBA season.

However, some fans appeared skeptical about the potential matchup, with many assuming Kevin Durant could potentially 'duck' the matchup against LeBron James.

LeBron James Vs Kevin Durant NBA fans react

Both LeBron James and Kevin Durant are future Hall of Famers, yet NBA fans have been starved of seeing the two heavyweights matchup in recent years. Now with the contest between the Lakers and Suns scheduled early in the season, there should be cautious optimism regarding the two finally going head-to-head once again.

LeBron James and Kevin Durant have played each other 21 times

During their storied careers, LeBron James and Kevin Durant have faced each other on 21 occasions. However, it is LeBron James that holds a significant amount of the win shares.

According to StatsMuse, LeBron James has been on the winning end of his matchups against Durant on 15 occasions, meaning that Kevin Durant has only tasted victory over LeBron James six times in his entire career.

Kevin Durant's last victory over LeBron James came during a January 15 contest in 2018, where the Golden State Warriors defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-108. Kevin Durant and LeBron James went toe-to-toe once more following that game when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day of 2018.

Since that game, either Kevin Durant or LeBron James has been absent from their team's rotation whenever they've been scheduled to play each other. As such, NBA fans haven't seen two of the league's biggest stars battle it out in almost five years - which, given how short an NBA career is, is far too long.

Now that both stars project to be healthy and available, the NBA can plug the contest between the Lakers and Suns as a marquee matchup in a bid to increase fan interest at the start of the season. Of course, there's no better way to get people tuning in than to pit two All-Time talents against each other.