In the Los Angeles Lakers’ first four games of the season, Anthony Davis has been their greatest player, especially while LeBron James is out.
By the way, the forward is having his best season in the NBA since the 2020 champion campaign, clearly during the time when his partner is unable to play. This made Heavy Portal pundit Keith Smith question the team’s leadership.
During participation in the Posting Up podcast, Smith made a stark statement that Davis should be the main reference in the team coached by Darvin Ham.
“I think if the Lakers want to be the best team, not just this year but the next, LeBron has to start thinking that, right now, this is the AD team.” Smith said.
“Somehow, he can be LeBron when the team needs him to be, but once every four or five games. That’s better than him trying to be old school LeBron two, three or four nights in a row,” Smith added.
LeBron James gets numbers close to those of Anthony Davis on the Lakers. The veteran has 24.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 6.9 assists in ten games played this season. The forward, in turn, has 26.4 points and 12.6 rebounds in 15 games.
However, Smith also raises the question whether the 29-year-old, with a vast injury history, would be able to assume overall responsibility for the team throughout 2022/23.
“Can Anthony Davis hold it? Every time he starts to take on these roles and get used a lot, especially when he’s playing inside [the key], he gets hurt.” Smith said.
“So it’s kind of like accepting the good and the bad of that and taking advantage of his strong runs when he gets them. But if they want to be a really good team, the Lakers need AD to be that guy.” he added.
