LeBron James and Anthony Davis were arguably the best one-two punch in the NBA during their time together with the Los Angeles Lakers.
James and Davis dominated teams with their size, physicality and skill and managed to lead the Lakers to a title in 2020. Although their partnership was cut short during the 2024-25 season after Davis was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Luka Doncic, the two remain close friends off the court.
Davis acknowledged that his friendship with LeBron is intact and the latter has expressed similar sentiments. It’s much harder to stay as close being on different teams, but James and Davis have shown that nothing gets in the way of their friendship.
Although the two stars are no longer teammates, they still find ways to joke about one another. For example, Davis outlined James’ odd pregame routine, via his personal Instagram account:
“One guy known as one of the greatest of all-time, if not the greatest. As soon as he gets to the arena, he takes his entire uniform, from the jersey to the shorts, the socks, the shoes, everything, and lays it on the floor. And no one can touch it. It became a thing where you can’t even walk over it. You have to walk around it.”
Davis already throws a subtle joke at James by not mentioning him by name before going into his routine of laying out his entire uniform on the floor. LeBron has discussed his pregame routine previously, though he emphasized how much he does in terms of stretching, mobility, on-court work and recovery rather than what he does with his game-day uniform.
It’s a strange quirk for one of the best players in the league, but James is hardly the first one to have a ritual that teammates might find weird. Regardless of the quirky nature of James’ routine, it obviously works for him as he remains one of the best players in the league despite being the oldest one.
LeBron might not have many more years left in the NBA, so it’ll be fun to see him match up against Davis the next time the Lakers and Mavericks meet.
LeBron James jokes about Anthony Davis trade
LeBron James has a good sense of humor and took an opportunity to take a shot at Anthony Davis when asked about his role as a big man. James joked that the Lakers shipped Davis out for asking for another center, so James remained quiet and declined to answer how he felt about playing more as a traditional big.
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