“The Next Jordan”: Kevin Durant Remembers the First Time When He Heard about LeBron James

Kevin Durant was the second pick in the first round of the 2007 draft. His jump shots, ball-handling, athleticism, and leadership made him a strong contender. When he entered the NBA scene, LeBron James was already a known force. 

The Akron Hammer was Rookie of the Year 2004. He improvised leaps and bounds in a couple of years as he averaged a career-high 31.4 point, 7 rebs, and 6.6 assists in 2005-06. All this happened before KD even booked his place on the map. But everything faded to the background as the two opponents took NBA rivalry to the next level.

Kevin Durant and LeBron James

They nicknamed KD The Slim Reaper, perhaps because of the consistency in his play and the quickness in his movement. The 6’10” tall player is just 31-YO and has already cemented his name as one of the greatest players to have ever stepped onto a basketball court. 

Recently, he took time and sat down for a podcast in which he discussed at length about his business moves, investment decisions, future after the NBA, his own chat show, among others. But his take on LeBron James caught our ears.

He revealed, “Since I was in ninth grade, I turned ON ESPN one day, LeBron James was the guy that people said is the next [Michael] Jordan. So in my mind, I was a 6’2” like JV [juvenile] player, I didn’t play well until my 9th grade year.

“In my mind I was like this is the best player. So I have to be as good as this. Or I have to look him in the eye at some point in my career. So, that was always in the back of my mind as I worked, as I played games. Because that was what was told to me, because that was the new guy, that was the next Jordan.

“But that evolved until he was just another competitor. We still play against each other, that’s pretty special to me. You can call it a robbery or whatever, but to have somebody at the same position where we are guarding each other when we play, it’s special because he’s one of the best players that ever touched floor.”

So we can assume that KD’s ninth grade would be LeBron’s rookie year and of course, Bron was all over the place by then. How amazing when the person you admire becomes your biggest competitor.

Two legends, head-to-head!

LeBron has three rings (two with Heat and one with Cavs) to his name against KD’s two (both with GSW). Bron has been part of 16 All-star games to 10 of Kevin Durant. Both remain almost identical in terms of the averaging in the number of points. But KD beats Bron in 3-Point and free throw percentage.

The two have guarded against each other on many crucial occasions. We have seen seasons come and go where in one season Bron would dominate over KD and in other, KD would do the same, back and forth. So it only makes sense to agree that this rivalry has uplifted not just their game, but also the standard of the NBA. We wish they soon face each other again in the next season.