Andre Iguodala Pushing Kevin Durant To Dethrone LeBron James As GOAT

LeBron James left the Eastern Conference for the first time in his career to join the Los Angeles Lakers, who play in the Western Conference on a four-year contract in July this year.

The four-time MVP previously played in the East with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat and their only clash with the teams from the Western Conference was in the NBA Finals, and their last four meetings have been with the Golden State Warriors.

The two teams made the NBA Finals for four consecutive years between 2015 and 2018 with the Stephen Curry-led Warriors beating James’ Cavaliers on three occasions.

James is arguably one of the greatest players in NBA history and is considered by many as the greatest of the current generation. The former Cavaliers star lived up to his top billing during his 15th NBA season, putting up averages of 34.0 points, 9.0 assists and 9.0 rebounds per game during the post-season. But he is not alone, with Curry, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving among others also considered top players in the current era.

The Lakers’ newest recruit has built a fierce rivalry with the Bay Area team in the last four seasons, but will now be facing them more often following his switch to the West and Warriors’ Andre Iguodala has welcomed him. The shooting guard admits it is going to be fun and believes it is always better when the competition is tougher. Despite James’ arrival, the Warriors continue to be the favorites to win their third straight NBA title in 2019.

Iguodala admits that James could possibly be the best basketball player in the world at the moment, but has also put his teammate Durant up there with the three-time NBA champion. The guard is eager to push Durant — a two-time NBA Finals MVP — further and help him take over from James as the GOAT.

"It's going to be a lot of fun. Yeah, I'm going to be seeing him a lot more than I would like to. But actually, you prefer to play against the best competition," Iguodala said, as quoted on NBC Sports. "So you know, at this point, he's arguably the best player in the world. He's probably the best player in the world. Kevin Durant is right there. I'm gonna keep pushing Kevin to finally take him over this season. It's going to be a lot of fun."

It is not the first time that Durant and James have been compared — as it was often done when the two came up against each other during the last two NBA Finals. Both the players hold each other in high regard and there have been talks about a potential union in Los Angeles next season.

Durant can become an unrestricted free agent in 2019 and there is talk of him joining James at the Staples Center, but he has been urged by many to either remain with the Warriors or join another franchise and dethrone James as the best player of the current generation.