LeBron James and Kevin Durant were nemeses in the NBA Finals in each of its last two editions, but off the court, the two seems to be cool with each other. They were even seen hanging out and leaving a Hollywood bar together recently (h/t TMZ Sports) .
It’s no secret that they’re friends, but people like to make a fuss out of two basketball alpha dogs from two different teams getting chummy with each other when they’re not sporting their respective teams’ uniforms. For most fans, a player’s rival on the court should remain his enemy regardless of the setting.
That’s clearly not the case with LeBron James and Kevin Durant as with most other players. The typical NBA player’s mentality has evolved to a point where it’s now okay for them to hang out no matter which team they represent. While that’s not applicable to Tony Parker and Brent Barry, that has been the case in the league over the past several years.
Then again, not everybody in the league does that, as made clear by Washington Wizards center Dwight Howard, who was a recent guest by Cari Champion on ESPN’ SportsNation. While Howard said that he sees no problem with LeBron and KD killing some time this offseason together, he admitted that he’s just not the type who will hang out with opposing players, especially those who have accomplished way more than him in basketball because he “respects them too much.”
More from Dwight Howard:
“I don’t know if I could really hang out with LeBron because he’s been to the finals so many times and I’m like ‘This guy is always winning,’ so I don’t know if I could hang out with him.”
Despite how bad Howard’s reputation has become, he still is someone who, at the very least, is a borderline future Hall of Famer, so it’s going to be unfair to label him as a loser. In terms of titles, though, LeBron and Durant clearly blow him out of the water. But who knows, maybe Howard can win one with John Wall in Washington.
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