For nearly two decades, Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has been considered one of the most valuable and untouchable players in the NBA.
For a while, James’ presence on a team’s roster practically guaranteed that the team would eventually be playing for an NBA title. While he has won a title with the Lakers, James may not be considered quite as untouchable as he once was.
In fact, former NBA player Robert Horry recently offered up an argument as to why James isn’t currently untouchable. He even mentioned superstars like Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic when talking about players who are now more untouchable than James is.
The Jazz are entertaining the idea of trading Spida, which makes sense to @RKHorry who thinks the only untouchable guys in the league are Steph and Luka. But what about LeBron if the Nets offered up KD? This week's show is live: https://t.co/qZ653k15N5 pic.twitter.com/kQHQVmKgH7
— Big Shot Bob Pod (@bigshotbobpod) July 14, 2022
“I think there’s only probably one dude in the league right now — or two dudes — I’d say two dudes that aren’t on the trading block,” Horry said. “That’s Luka and Steph. Everybody else can be traded.”
Horry then talked about James.
“Hell yeah,” Horry said when asked for his opinion on whether the Lakers would move from James. “Let’s say I give you K.D. (Kevin Durant). … If you Rob Pelinka and someone says, ‘Okay, I’ll give you K.D. for LeBron,’ you have to do that trade.”
It’s an interesting argument, but it may not totally hold up when it gets broken down a bit.
Of course, age is probably the first place anyone would go when comparing James to Durant. James is a few years older than Durant. James is 37 years old, and Durant will be 34 years old by the time the 2022-23 regular season gets started.
Other than that, however, there aren’t tons of reasons why Durant is undoubtedly the better player to have on a roster. First off, he has a more serious injury history. He tore his Achilles tendon just a few years ago, and that is considered one of the scarier injuries for an athlete to incur.
On top of that, his durability is not better than James.’ In fact, James played one more regular season game than Durant did last season.
Beyond that, James has four NBA championships to Durant’s two.
All in all, Horry is clearly making a statement that will grab the attention of NBA fans. However, there’s certainly a case to be made against his argument.
