LeBron James and Kevin Durant are two of the best players to ever step on a basketball court, but it’s been half a decade since they were on one together for an NBA game.
The two future Hall of Famers will square off Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena when the Los Angeles Lakers host the Phoenix Suns. It’s an early-season test for two Western Conference contenders, but all eyes will be on the superstars who are finally reuniting for a meaningful matchup.
Somehow, Thursday’s matchup will be the first time James and Durant face each other in an NBA game since Christmas Day 2018.
James was 33 years old and Durant was 30. Now, James is the oldest player in the NBA and Durant is in Year 17.
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Let’s take a trip down memory lane to the last time James and Durant played one another and examine what’s changed in the last 1,766 days.
The last LeBron-KD matchup: Dec. 25, 2018, Lakers vs. Warriors
Durant was coming off back-to-back NBA Finals MVPs with the Golden State Warriors and James was in his first year with the Lakers – following two straight Finals defeats against Durant – when they faced one another on Christmas Day in 2018.
NBA
The Lakers wound up demolishing the Warriors by a score of 127-101 at Oracle Arena. James had 17 points, 13 rebounds and five assists compared to Durant’s 21 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.
James is the only player from the 2017-18 Lakers that is still with the organization, while Durant is the only Warriors starter from that game to leave Golden State.
LeBron James and Kevin Durant since Dec. 25, 2018
James and Durant may not have played each other in a half-decade, but they’ve sure been keeping busy.
Here’s a look at some of the accolades, milestones and other facts for each player just from Christmas 2018 to Oct. 25, 2023:
LeBron James
- 1 NBA Finals win (2020)
- 1 team (Lakers)
- 3 playoff appearances
- 5 All-Star selections
- 5 All-NBA selections (1 first team, 1 second team, 3 third team)
- Became NBA’s all-time scoring leader
- 245 regular season games
Kevin Durant
- 1 NBA Finals appearance (2019)
- 1 missed season due to injury (2019-20)
- 2 All-NBA second team selections
- 3 teams (Warriors, Nets and Suns)
- 4 playoff appearances
- 5 All-Star selections
- 181 regular season games
Matchups between LeBron James’ teams and Kevin Durant’s teams since 2018
James and/or Durant has missed each of the last 13 regular season contests between their two teams. From major injuries to load management and health and safety protocols, they have each had their reasons for missing the highly anticipated tilts.
- Jan. 21, 2019: Warriors 130, Lakers 111 (James out)
- Feb. 2, 2019: Warriors 115, Lakers 101 (James out)
- April 4, 2019: Warriors 108, Lakers 90 (James out)
- Jan. 23, 2020: Lakers 128, Nets 113 (Durant out)
- March 10, 2020: Nets 104, Lakers 102 (Durant out)
- Feb. 18, 2021: Nets 109, Lakers 98 (Durant out)
- April 10, 2021: Lakers 126, Nets 101 (James out)
- Dec. 25, 2021: Nets 122, Lakers 115 (Durant out)
- Jan. 25, 2022: Lakers 106, Nets 96 (Durant out)
- Nov. 13, 2022: Lakers 116, Nets 103 (James out)
- Jan. 30, 2023: Nets 121, Lakers 104 (James and Durant out)
- March 22, 2023: Lakers 122, Suns 111 (James and Durant out)
- April 7, 2023: Lakers 121, Suns 107 (Durant out)
James and Durant have played together and against one another at the All-Star Game since last battling in the regular season. Durant won All-Star Game MVP honors as a member of Team LeBron in 2019. He then captained Team Durant against Team LeBron in 2021 and 2022.
LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant head-to-head record
James has a 15-6 record when facing Durant in the regular season. Durant holds the postseason advantage at 9-5 with all 14 matchups taking place in the NBA Finals (2012, 2017 and 2018).
They have a similar scoring output in their head-to-head matchups, with Durant averaging 29.8 points per game and James averaging 29.6.
