Ever since the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Anthony Davis and paired him with LeBron James, many felt that at some point, the former would need to ascend to being the team’s best player and primary offensive option. This season, under new head coach JJ Redick, there is no doubt that Davis has done just that.
The offense has primarily run through Davis, who is averaging his most points and shot attempts as a Laker. While LeBron isn’t too far off in terms of shots, he is clearly playing more off-ball than ever, with Austin Reaves also seeing an increase in playmaking duties.
Nonetheless, it finally feels like it is Davis’ team and the Lakers’ superstar recently spoke about this in an interview with Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports. Davis called James the greatest player ever, but said in order for the Lakers to reach their ultimate goal, this is how they must play:
“He’s the greatest ever to lace up some shoes, [scored] over 40,000 points and he’s broken almost every record possible,” Davis told FOX Sports. “So any time you have a guy on your team like that, he commands just so much attention. Also, his IQ is very high, he plays the right way, things like that. I think now it’s just obviously he’s getting a little bit older, still being able to do what he’s able to do, which he still knows night in and night out that he can compete at a high level.
“But I just know in order for us to do something we’ve talked about in previous years and this year, that in order for us to reach the promised land, I have to play how I’m playing now. It’s never been a conversation with me and him where it’s like, ‘Hey, this is your team and I’m giving you the keys or whatever.’ It’s just been something that we’ve just played off of each other. And it just happened.”
Davis would add that he, James and Redick are all on the same page when it comes to this:
“I think [LeBron], myself and JJ have kind of come together and realized, okay, the ball needs to be in my hands,” Davis told FOX Sports. “I’ll make plays from there. So, I think that’s really what it came down to.”
As Davis said, there was no grand conversation with a passing of the torch ceremony, it was simply everyone realizing what was best for the Lakers. He is more than capable of handling this and it is simply a matter of all the pieces around he and LeBron fitting properly and performing up to their potential to make this team a true contender.
Anthony Davis focused on Lakers success as a team over individual awards
Anthony Davis certainly has the talent to be an MVP in this league, and at the outset of the season was playing like one. But the Lakers superstar insists that he is more focused on team success than individual awards.
Davis said that he feels that when players begin focusing on the individual awards, they can let the success of the team slide as they are simply chasing stats and numbers and he doesn’t want to do that. The big man added that as long as the Lakers are winning and playing the right way, he is good.
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