Kevin Durant Believes LeBron James Is Still Improving

Whether Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is the greatest player in NBA history remains a major debate. But one thing that can not be argued is that no player has ever remained as good as James has, this late into their career.

Of course, no player has even played 23 NBA seasons, but LeBron continues to be one of the best players in the game and was a Second Team All-NBA selection last season at 40 years old. And in the eyes of one of his greatest rivals, Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant, James is still getting better.

Durant recently appeared on the Unguarded podcast with Fred VanVleet and spoke on the Lakers star, feeling he is continuing to add facets to his game and has truly mastered the game of basketball:

“I feel like LeBron still getting better at his game. I feel like he recently mastered his game at like 38. He added a 3-pointer, he added a fadeaway, more consistent. You know what I’m saying? I look at it that way. I think he’s on his way to mastering, truly mastering who he wants to be.”

There is no denying that LeBron has improved greatly as a 3-point shooter over the past couple of years. His last two seasons have been two of the best deep shooting years of his career with his 41% mark in 2024 being a career-high and his 37.6% mark last season being his fourth-best. The improvement in shooting has helped to counteract his athleticism not being what it was in his prime, though he can clearly still break that out in spurts as well.

His growth as a post player has also been evident as he has more moves when he goes to the block. Where he used to rely on pure strength and power before, he now has more tools at his disposal, often times breaking out a fadeaway that is more consistent than ever, and even throwing out a hook shot at times as well.

The greats of this game are always looking for ways to improve their game which is something both Durant and James have shown throughout their careers. And even though LeBron is at a point in his career which no one has reached, he is still not satisfied which is why he is an all-time great.

James Harden doesn’t believe LeBron James’ scoring record will be broken

Being in his 23rd NBA season, James has too many all-time records to count, but being the all-time scoring leader is at or near the top of his accomplishments. But he has now pushed that number out so far that L.A. Clippers star James Harden doesn’t think anyone is ever catching it.