Getty Image / Yong Teck Lim
The Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns will go head to head on October 26th.
It is expected to be the first matchup between LeBron James and Kevin Durant since 2018.
The NBA’s schedule for the upcoming season has been slowly trickling out this week.
Fans have already learned what they have to look forward to on opening night and on Christmas.
Now there is another big matchup that has been revealed for early in the season.
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers will meet on October 26th in what should be the first game featuring Kevin Durant and LeBron James since 2018.
Three more notable games on NBA’s 2023-24 season schedule – including the date Lakers‘ LeBron James and Suns‘ Kevin Durant face off for first time since 2018: pic.twitter.com/hcJ42DUFFc
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 11, 2023
Kevin Durant and LeBron having not gone head to head since 2018 is pretty shocking.
That last clash came on Christmas Day in LeBron’s first season with the Los Angeles Lakers and while Durant was still a member of the Golden State Warriors.
The two teams met 3 more times that season, but LeBron was unavailable for all 3 of the matchups.
The next season was a member of the Brooklyn Nets, but missed the entire year as he recovered from a torn achilles.
During the 2020-21 season the two players took turns missing matchups against each other.
The following year, KD and LeBron were scheduled to meet on Christmas once again, but Durant was unavailable and he was also missing when the Nets and Lakers met again a month later.
This past season was a combination of bad luck and bad timing. The two players both spent chunks of the season injured and Durant was traded to the Suns after the Lakers and Suns had already played twice.
This coming season, fans shouldn’t have to worry about either player missing the first matchup as it should be just the 2nd game of the year for both teams.
After that there should be 3 more matchups between the team for fans to enjoy that could be some of the last chances we’ll get to see Kevin Durant and LeBron James going head to head on an NBA court.