It’s no secret that the NBA is filled with amazing young talent that will take charge of the league in years to come. Young stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jayson Tatum, Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards, and Victor Wembanyama are all the frontrunners to be the elite superstars in the making and lead the next generation of NBA basketball. As much as that excites today’s younger generation of basketball watchers, we must still appreciate the players that helped paved the way to get to where the NBA is now. From 2010 to 2025, there was a massive shift of the guard in the NBA. There was the Michael Jordan era in the 1990s. The Kobe Bryant era in the 2000s. In the 2010s, we witnessed arguably the greatest era of basketball.
Of course, LeBron James has been at the helm since he got into the league in 2003. King James really started to take effect in the summer of 2010 when he was a free agent and elected to join the Miami Heat. With this move, it started a new wave in the NBA where stars and even superstars want to team up and win championships together. Let's thank LeBron James for that by teaming up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, who both were averaging 20 points and more on the Heat and the Raptors. During LeBron’s 4 years in Miami, there were two rising stars that were on their way to superstar status in Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. In the 2007 NBA Draft, the Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder) drafted Durant with the 2nd overall pick coming out of Texas. 2 years later, the Golden State Warriors drafted the young Stephen Curry with the 7th pick in that year's NBA draft.
LeBron’s legacy was cemented in concrete when he finally surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as number one on the NBA all-time leading regular season scoring list on February 7, 2023 in his 20th season. One thing that fans must credit James for is his longevity and continuing to chase history after being in the league for so long.
Curry was a superstar during his run with the Warriors throughout the 2010s but his most recent NBA title back in 2022 really made him a bonafide NBA legend. Some fans didn’t credit Curry for his 3 titles due to injuries and having Kevin Durant as a teammate for two of those rings Curry has. With minimal superstar help, Curry put the entire Warriors organization on his back during that season and playoffs and led them to the NBA Finals to defeat the Boston Celtics in 6 games. As a 6’11” forward, Durant shouldn’t be able to move the way he does on the court and get any shot he puts up in the basket. KD is a 2-time NBA champ, still hungry for another championship as a Phoenix Sun playing alongside Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. By stepping up to the plate the way he did against LeBron James during the 2018 NBA Finals and ultimately winning the title, he secured his spot amongst the greatest to play this game.
With multiple NBA league MVP’s, NBA Finals appearances, NBA Finals Championships and NBA Finals MVPs between all three players, LeBron, Steph and KD have definitely made their impact on the league and carved out their own legacies that can’t be duplicated. During an episode of “NBA OGs” featuring all three of these future hall of fame worthy players, they all complimented each other on their approach to the game, the hunger to continue to win and longevity to still want to play. Whenever it’s time for James, Curry and Durant to retire, it’ll be a sad day for all basketball fans.
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