We all knew that LeBron James would have been excited about the prospect of playing with Anthony Davis, but there was definitely one little concern. Would LeBron be fine with playing with arguably the most talented player he’s ever played with, resulting in possibly fewer statistics and shots coming his way?
LeBron James answered that at Media Day on Friday, saying this (transcribed from this video taken by Harrison D. Sanford):
“We all know how great Anthony Davis is, and if we’re not playing through Anthony Davis while he’s on the floor, then it makes no sense to have him on the floor because he’s that great. That doesn’t mean, like, every time down we throw it to him, throw it to him, and throw it to him but, we have the ability to do that. He’s been very efficient in his career. He commands double teams, and when you’re able to attract two defenders on one guy then you have the numbers game and you got a 4-on-3 on the backside so it opens it up for other guys on the floor including myself”
LeBron on AD: "It's exciting to have a beautiful young mind, a beautiful player, but also a great leader as well"
— Lakers Outsiders (@LakersOutsiders) September 27, 2019
This was reported at one point, but LeBron casts no doubts with his own words, stating that it’s sort of pointless to trade almost the entire young core for Anthony Davis and then not use him as much as they can when he’s available. LeBron also goes into how using Davis as the focal point of the offense will create advantages for the Lakers, as Davis will most likely be doubled here-and-there throughout the season, making the numbers game open up for the Lakers to get shots for Kyle Kuzma, Danny Green, and LeBron James, himself.
Later, Anthony Davis was asked LeBron’s comments about the offense and had this to say (transcribed from the video below from Ohm Youngmisuk/ESPN):
Anthony Davis on LeBron James facilitating and wanting to run things through AD pic.twitter.com/Bl5QKIJsud
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) September 27, 2019
From what LeBron said…that’s very kind of him. I think we’re going to feed off each other, tremendously. I think we’re two guys who are very selfless and want to win. When we have two guys like that it makes our jobs a lot easier.
Thankfully, it sounds like our two superstars are on the same page! A very refreshing scenario given the last time the Lakers had two superstars on the team (looking at you, Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant).
