The Los Angeles Lakers faced off against the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night and were easily defeated, 121-104.
LA was able to hang with their opponents for much of the game but the Nets pulled away and secured another victory, giving the Lakers a 23-28 record.
The game garnered a lot of attention as fans wanted to see two of the most talked-about teams square off.
Wild stat. LeBron and KD still haven’t played against each other since Christmas Day 2018 😓 pic.twitter.com/poWUQtrJTP
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 31, 2023
But those who wanted to see LeBron James and Kevin Durant battle it out were out of luck.
Both James and Durant sat out of the game due to injuries, robbing fans of a chance to see two of the best basketball players of all time on the court together.
It’s been a very long time since these superstars played against one another.
In fact, they haven’t competed since Christmas Day of 2018.
Back then, James was in the midst of his first season for the Lakers and Durant was still playing for the Golden State Warriors.
It was perhaps the biggest game of that Christmas Day lineup and the Lakers walked away victorious with a 127-101 win.
Durant was good for 21 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists while James produced 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Even though they nabbed a huge win, it was a bad game for the Lakers.
That’s because James ended up getting hurt in the middle of it.
That injury was the worst of his career at the time and had him sidelined until the end of January.
During that time, the Lakers slid down the standings and were never able to recover.
As for the Warriors, they went all the way to the Finals that year.
It’s been a long time since James and Durant made fireworks on the court.
Fans are desperate to see them together again.
