The Los Angeles Lakers are — obviously — LeBron James’ team, but that wasn’t the plan originally.
Rob Pelinka traded for Anthony Davis hoping that he would take Bron’s torch and become the team’s go-to guy, and that hasn’t been the case thus far.
Nonetheless, Lakers legend James Worthy recently said on Spectrum SportsNet that he expects this to be the season where Davis finally takes that leap forward and becomes the undisputed leader of this team.
“With LeBron out of the picture, I think AD’s the guy and I think he will step up and answer the call.” James Worthy on Anthony Davis's future with the #Lakers. pic.twitter.com/F9P5wnBEsz
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) August 11, 2023
Truth be told, it’s not like they have an option.
As great and durable as he is, James looked exhausted and completely gassed out late in the season, especially in the playoffs.
That’s not a knock on him whatsoever, as the sole fact that he was able to play at that level after two decades in the league just speaks volumes of his greatness.
But expecting a soon-to-be 39-year-old to be the one to carry the load throughout the course of an 82-game regular season and the payoffs is not realistic and flat-out dangerous.
Davis is one of the best two-way players in the game, and he’s borderline unstoppable offensively when he gets into a rhythm.
But besides all the never-ending injury woes, he’s also been fairly inconsistent since arriving in Southern California, which is something the fans have often called him out for.
The Lakers are a completely different team when Davis is at his best, so they can’t afford to have him at his best every other night; he needs to do it on a nightly basis.
NEXT: Lakers Legend Names 1 Player He’s Excited To Watch This Season
