Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant recently talked about how Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James made him a better player while growing up in Maryland.
James is four years older than Durant. The Nets star told Barstool Big Cat and Alex Rodriguez on The Corp podcast that James has been his measuring stick ever since he saw LeBron on ESPN in ninth grade:
“Well since I was in ninth grade and 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 player, I didn’t play varsity until my 9th grade year,” Kevin Durant said.
“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 eyes 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.”
Kevin Durant and LeBron James have developed a great friendship off the court over the years. The two NBA legends have met in the Finals three times, with Durant winning twice.
When it's all said and done, Durant and James will go down as two of the greatest players in NBA history. James has won three titles, three Finals MVPs and four regular-season MVPs with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat, while Durant is a two-time champion, two-time Finals MVP, four-time scoring champion and one-time regular-season MVP with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors.
Durant and the Nets will likely be title contenders next season, as will James and the Los Angeles Lakers. With that said, there's a chance Durant and James could meet in the Finals for the fourth time in 2021.
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