Kevin Durant Jumps To LeBron James' Defense After Joel Embiid's Controversial Age Comments

LeBron James certainly didn't play like he's nearing 40 during Team USA's undefeated yet imperfect slate of exhibitions ahead of the 2024 Olympics.

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar was easily the Americans' best player as they racked up five straight wins before heading to Paris. He not only averaged team-bests of  14 points and 3.6 assists per game on 60.9% shooting, but rescued the United States from losses to South Sudan and Germany with dominant play in the clutch.

Age, clearly, hasn't been an issue for James early in his quest for a third Olympic gold. That's no surprise to fellow veteran Kevin Durant, who defended his longtime NBA foil on Thursday amid controversial comments from Joel Embiid about Team USA's brightest stars being past their prime.

“The thing about greatness is that you adjust and continue to find ways to be effective,” he said of James, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “That’s what LeBron has done. He’s not running and jumping the same way he was when he was 25, 26 years old, but he’s still jumping pretty high and running pretty fast.”

Durant was referencing remarks Embiid made to the New York Times Magazine before the Americans tipped off training camp in early July.

Explaining why international foes have caught up to the United States on the world stage, the Philadelphia 76ers franchise player focused on James not being the player he "used to be."

"The LeBron now is not the LeBron that was a couple of years ago," he said. "So it’s a big difference. Everybody would also tell you, and you can see for yourself, the athletic LeBron, dominant that he was a couple of years ago, is not the same that he is now. I think people get fooled by the names on paper. But those names have been built throughout their career, and now they’re older. They’re not what they used to be.”

No one is arguing that James, as well as Curry and Durant, are still at the peak of their all-time powers. But with a supporting cast of similarly or even more talented superstars—including and most notably, Embiid—around them, is the Americans' de facto Big Three good enough to bring home gold?

We'll find out for sure a few weeks down the line in Paris.

Related: LeBron James' Heroics in Team USA's Win Over Germany Have Fans in Shock