As obvious as shooting was for KD, the playmaking category might be even clearer.
LeBron is one of the best creators, distributors and individual possession engineers we’ve ever seen. His ability to diagnose a defense, break it down and then attack it with either a pass or his own shot is nearly unrivaled.
Durant is a solid playmaker with a career average of 4.4 assists. LeBron is rightfully in conversations with Magic Johnson and Nikola Jokić. He’s averaged 7.4 assists for his career and could pass Jason Kidd for third all time in total assists this season (depending on his health).
The aforementioned projection systems both, understandably, have LeBron handing out significantly more dimes than Durant in 2025-26, but the best indication of who deserves this category might lie in their roles.
It’s partially a function of who he’s played with, but Durant has always been a secondary or tertiary playmaker. LeBron, on the other hand, has had full control of the reigns for almost every team he’s played for (with the lone possible exceptions being the Cleveland Cavaliers in his rookie season and Los Angeles Lakers post-Luka Dončić trade).
If the general managers were asked which of these two players were the better playmakers, they’d undoubtedly answer LeBron.
