The Los Angeles Lakers’ playoff odds have taken a sizeable hit with 41-year-old LeBron James being thrust back into a primary role for the shorthanded squad entering its first-round clash against the Houston Rockets.
However, according to FS1’s Nick Wright, James is still more than equipped to spearhead a postseason unit in Year 23, even more so than Rockets superstar Kevin Durant.
Nick Wright Argues LeBron James is ‘Still Better Than Kevin Durant’
James and Durant have engaged in numerous high-stakes clashes since they entered the league in 2003 and 2007, respectively, including three NBA Finals matchups in 2012, 2017, and 2018.
While James holds a 21-11 edge in regular-season action, Durant is 9-5 against the four-time MVP in the playoffs, including their most recent lopsided Finals showdowns as members of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.
Now in the latter stages of their careers with the Lakers and Rockets, the esteemed forwards have an opportunity to add a defining chapter to their longstanding rivalry. Unfortunately for James, with his co-stars Luka Dončić (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) sidelined, he is under increased pressure to carry LA offensively.
While the Lakers enter Round 1 as a significant underdog, Wright still views James as a top-five postseason player, outpacing Durant, who averaged 26.0 points per game on elite 52.0/41.3/87.4 shooting splits across 78 appearances this season.
The pundit even went as far as to claim that Durant has never exceeded the 22-time All-Star at any point in their illustrious careers.
“Forget 10, I don’t think there’s five guys in the league who I would rather be running my team in a playoff game, and they’re playing the Rockets. I think he’s still better than KD,” Wright began on Tuesday’s edition of “Hoops Tonight with Jason Timpf.”
“I don’t think there’s been a day in human history where Kevin Durant was better than LeBron James at basketball. Not one day.”
Still, Wright acknowledged that James is no longer the two-way force he was in his prime, with a featured offensive role likely to hinder his defensive impact against Houston. This comes after the veteran gradually settled into a complementary role alongside Dončić and Reaves when LA was healthy, putting forth a stronger defensive effort.
“Now, I don’t think he has the ability to do his new role — which is his old role, but new role with the Lakers — and be a super impactful defensive player,” Wright noted.
“The single-biggest spot LeBron’s age has shown up is the fact if he is giving it all out on offense, he really does get hit on defense. And we saw once he went to the Swiss Army knife role, that he started to be way more impactful on defense again, which is why, God, I hope Luka can be back for Game 6, and I think Bron can get ’em there.”
Is LeBron still a Top 10 playoff player?@_JasonLT and @getnickwright discuss pic.twitter.com/1TVAXIjTtf
— Hoops Tonight (@hoopstonite) April 14, 2026
Over his final four regular-season outings without Dončić and Reaves, James averaged 25.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 11.0 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 3-pointers per game, shooting 55.7% overall.
While the Lakers went 3-1 during that stretch, as Wright alluded to, it may take an even greater scoring output for James to keep the Lakers alive and bide time in hopes of Dončić’s mid-series return.