It's mind-blowing to think that ever since LeBron James walked across the NBA draft stage 20 years ago, he's always been his team's best player. He turns 39 in a little over a month. Many people predicted that 2023 would be when he finally hands the Los Angeles Lakers' keys over to teammate Anthony Davis. However, in the first 13 games of the season, the King surprisingly still wears his crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Davis is a confusing talent. The league's blocks-per-game leader (3.3) is by far the best defender on the planet. Plus, he ranks first in many offensive metrics from the post. If you were to count on your fingers the number of players better than him when he's on, you would have many fingers left. Most would say the big man is better than James at their best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unfortunately, AD's offensive production is more up and down than a roller coaster. In the Lakers' first meeting with the Sacramento Kings, the former Kentucky Wildcat scored 30 points and hauled 16 rebounds. In the second match, he failed to score double-digit points or boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lakers extended Davis through the 2027-28 season with the richest annual salary for a reason: to take the number one option role from James. However, Davis' unpredictable production has forced the Lakers to continue to rely on James despite his age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Father Time must have made an exception for James. He is averaging 26.4\/8.2\/6.5 on a ridiculous 58.6\/39.7\/69.1 shooting split. Davis has some catching up if he wants to be the man. 22\/11.7\/3.3 on 53\/30\/86.3 shooting splits is great, but not enough to be the best player on the Lakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone agreed that James would still be Lakers' best distributor. But not many foresaw him continuing as the LakeShow's primary scorer at 38 years old. In last night's 105-104 win against the Houston Rockets, James dropped a season-high 37 points on an extremely efficient 74 FG%. Davis's 27 points was the game's 2nd-highest scorer, but foul trouble removed him from big spots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n