NBA

LeBron James and Kevin Durant Injuries: Why the NBA’s Greatest Rivalry Is Dormant

Published

2 months ago

March 22, 2023

(NBAE via Getty Images)

Whenever Kevin Durant and LeBron James face to face, it is a sight not to be missed. However, in recent years this duel is essentially impossible to observe for league fans.

Both Durant and James are unique talents. That two players of this caliber can share almost 16 seasons it feels too good to be true. And in recent years, it is. And it is that when the Suns face the Lakers, that Wednesday, March 22they will have passed 1,548 days (and counting) since the two met on an NBA court.

they didn’t enter preseasonwhere the Lakers faced the Durand Nets twice in 2019. Neither in normal phase, where Durant and James’ teams have met a total of 11 times since their last meeting. Less on All Star Game. And neither in Playoffsalthough the likelihood of that happening has increased with KD’s return to the Western Conference.

The last time Durant and James met was Christmas 2018. KD was in his final season with them warriors and James was driving first with the Lakers.

Long before Durant’s plans to move to Brooklyn came to fruition, it appeared that the rivalry had opened a new chapter when the The Lakers defeated the Warriorsdespite James left early with a groin injury which derailed his first campaign in Los Angeles.

This injury to James caused the new stage of the rivalry to end the same day it began. And more than four years later, the next chapter remains unwritten.

The injuries were the biggest culprits in this streak of bad luck heralded by James’ retirement in 2018. Less than six months later, Durant suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon that sidelined him for the entire 2019-2020 season. And since then, there have already been 17 occasions where their teams have faced each other without either being available.

The lost games of the duel LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant

	Date	Game	Outside	Reason
1	January 21, 2019	Lakers vs. warriors	James	groin tear
2	February 2, 2019	warriors vs. Lakers	James	groin tear
3	April 4, 2019	Lakers vs. warriors	James	groin tear
4	October 10, 2019	Lakers vs. Nets (Preseason)	Durant	Achilles tendon
5	October 12, 2019	Nets vs. Lakers (Preseason)	Durant	Achilles tendon
6	January 23, 2020	Nets vs. Lakers	Durant	Achilles tendon
7	March 10, 2020	Lakers vs. Nets	Durant	Achilles tendon
8	February 18, 2021	Lakers vs. Nets	Durant	Left thigh tears
9	March 7, 2021	Team LeBron vs. The Durant team	Durant	Left thigh tears
10	April 10, 2021	Nets vs. Lakers	James	Sprained right ankle
eleven	December 25, 2021	Lakers vs. Nets	Durant	Health and safety protocols
12	January 25, 2022	Nets vs. Lakers	Durant	Left knee sprain
13	February 20, 2022	Team Durant vs. Team LeBron	Durant	Left knee sprain
14	November 13, 2022	Nets vs. Lakers	James	Left adductor tear
fifteen	January 30, 2023	Lakers vs. Nets	Durant and James	Knee (Durant) and Ankle (James)
16	February 19, 2023	Team LeBron vs. John’s team	Durant	Left knee sprain
17	March 22, 2023	Lakers vs. suns	Durant and James	Ankle (Durant), Foot (James)

Author:

Gilbert McGregor

Source: Sporting News

Jeremiah

I am a sports journalist who has been writing for a news website since 2015. My work primarily focuses on sports news, but I have also written about other topics such as technology and the arts. I have an extensive background in journalism, having worked as a reporter for a local newspaper before moving to a news website.

NBA

Who are the coaches with the most NBA Finals? The list of those who have fought the most for the ring

Published

6 hours ago

June 2, 2023

Jeremiah

The trainers is the key to achievement ring but who are the coaches with? more finals is disputed throughout NBA history?

It’s time for a review.

Which NBA coach has played in the most Finals?

The coach who has played in the most NBA Finals is Phil Jackson.

The Lakers and Bulls legend totaled 13 rows per ring throughout his major league career.

The complete list of coaches with the most NBA Finals

pos.	Coach	finals
1	Phil Jackson	13
2	Red Auerbach	eleven
3	Pat Riley	9
4	John Kundla, Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr and Erik Spoelstra	6
5	KC Jones	5

Phil Jackson

Final appearances: 13
championships: eleven

It couldn’t be more. Zen Master is the coach who has directed the most Finals: seven with the Los Angeles Lakers and six with the Chicago Bulls. In all those he came with the Windy City team he was a winner alongside Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, while with the purple and gold he won five and lost two (in 2004 against the Detroit Pistons and in 2008 against the Boston Celtics).

Red Auerbach

Final appearances: eleven
championships:9

An NBA story: without him you can’t understand the history of the Boston Celtics. He won eight straight titles with the clubs in one of the sport’s greatest dynasties, led by Bill Russell. He later became general manager and president, winning six more championships.

Pat Riley

Final appearances:9
championships: 5

One of only two people in the NBA to be a champion as a player, coach and executive. As a coach he promoted Larry O’Brien four times with the Lakers, with Magic Johnson on the court, while with the Miami Heat he won another title on that team that had Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal. He is currently the president of Miami and is going for his third championship as an executive.

John Kudla

Final appearances:6
championships: 5

When the Lakers were in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kudla led them from 1947 to 1959, making the Finals in 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954 and 1959. All he lost was the last of the Red Auerbachs to Red Auerbach. 4-0.

Gregg Popovich

Final appearances:6
championships: 5

One of the assets on this list. The legendary coach built a dynasty with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili, winning all five franchise titles. The only time it lost in the Finals was to the Miami Heat of LeBron James, D-Wade and Chris Bosh in 2013.

Steve Kerr

Final appearances:6
championships: 4

As a player and coach it was a historic championship for this league. Kerr took over the helm of the Golden State Warriors in 2014 and has since led them to five consecutive Finals between 2015 and 2019, winning three against the Cleveland Cavaliers and losing one to the same opponent and another to the Toronto Raptors. and to this in 2022 he added one more appearance.

Erik Spölstra

Final appearances:6
championships: 2

Spoelstra has dedicated most of his life to the Miami Heat and has responded with good results. Two years after the franchise’s first championship in 2008, he took the helm and has since been the coach leading the team to two titles in 2012 and 2013 with LeBron, Wade and Bosh.

They were also defeated in 2011 by the Dallas Mavericks, in 2014 by the San Antonio Spurs and in 2020 by the Lakers. What will happen in 2023 against the Denver Nuggets?

KC Jones

Final appearances: 5
championships: 2

In his long tenure as coach of the Washington Bullets, Boston Celtics and Seattle SuperSonics, the man born in Taylor, Texas, was the monarch on Clover’s team in 1984 and 1986, defeating the Lakers and Rockets, respectively. However, he fell three more times: twice with Boston against the purple and gold, and once when he led the Washington Bullets to a 1975 loss to the Warriors.

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the NBA or its organizations.

Author:

Nacho Losilla

Source: Sporting News

Jeremiah

NBA

Pokuszewski broke his right hand during Thunder training

Published

9 hours ago

June 2, 2023

Jon

Bad news for Alexei Pokusevsky who has broken his right arm and will be sidelined for a long time.

Alexei Pokushevsky was – once again – unlucky. According to an update from Thunder, the Serbia forward suffered a fracture in the humerus (the bone that connects the shoulder to the elbow) in his right hand and will be out for four to six weeks.

The former Olympiakos player was injured during a training session at the Thunder facilities and is now back on the road to recovery. This is the Serb’s second serious injury in recent months after breaking a knee bone last December that kept him out for three months.

It now remains to be seen whether this injury will affect the young forward’s potential participation in the 2023 World Cup, where he has expressed his desire to compete.

In the 2022-23 season (his third in the NBA), Pokuszewski averaged 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals at 36.5% 3-pointers in 21 minutes with the Thunder Shots (34 games – 25 as a starter).

Source: sport 24

Jon

I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.

NBA

Antebayo to the journalists: “If I talk about the shooting, will you pay the fine?”

Published

9 hours ago

June 2, 2023

Jon

Bam Adebayo was asked about the shooting difference (20-2 in favor of the Nuggets) in Game 1 of the NBA Finals the Heat vs Denver and responded with…a question to the reporter about paying the fine.

The Nuggets outplayed the Heat in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, winning 104-93, albeit with the difference in shots (20-2 for Denver, with Miami’s 2 shots setting a negative record in NBA playoff history) , to make a difference impression. And led to a funny dialogue at the press conference.

Bam Adebayo and Haywood Highsmith (the only shooter in the game) represented the Heat, and a reporter asked Adebayo at the end: “I promise I’m not trying to fine you, but it was 20-2. It was quite a distance but I don’t think you would complain about the refereeing.

The following dialogue then ensued:
Antebayo: “If I say something, will you accept the fine?”
Journalist: “a part of”
Antebayo: “I don’t think we should let the protests define us. We made a lot of jump shots instead of going to the basket and missed a lot of them. We need to see the VIDEO and then we will see the problem.”

However, at the end of his statement, Adebayo joked again, saying: “Why doesn’t he pay a fine for what he said?” and everyone burst out laughing.

Look at the dialogue:

Source: sport 24

Jon

I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.