The Los Angeles Lakers duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis managed to fit the billing as arguably the most formidable one in the league prior to the 2019-20 NBA season hiatus.
James and Davis led the Lakers to the top spot in the Western Conference at 49-14 before the season was suspended in response to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, they have also been pegged as frontrunners to land some of the league’s highest honors such as Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year in the process.
Although James may find himself back in familiar territory, Davis is getting accustomed to playing on a team with high expectations. After all, there are not many players that get to kickstart a potential championship run alongside one of their childhood idols.
According to Michael Lee of The Athletic, Davis says he and James still marvel at how their careers have now intertwined:
“It’s funny that now we’re teammates,” Davis said about — who else? — LeBron James. “We talk about it all the time, how I was going to his camps wearing his shoes, wanting to meet him, when I was younger in high school. Now I have the opportunity to play alongside him.”
Davis added that James’ skillset was something he wanted to emulate and even credits him as one of the reasons behind his desire to wear No. 23:
“I was able to follow him and make sure that I try to figure out the things that he’s doing. A 6-8 guy who’s very strong, he’s able to pass, shoot, dribble, and it was the same thing I wanted to do,” Davis said. “Bringing the ball up, point forward. I had to do the same thing in high school. I had to go buy his shoes. I kind of wear 23 because of him. That’s a long story behind that but he was the guy I was kind of always watching like, ‘I want to be like him.’ ”
It is clear that Davis is part of a generation that got to witness James take the NBA by storm during their childhood. Of course, he is now hoping to join the small group of players that have managed to make their championship dreams come to fruition alongside him.
Fortunately, there is good reason to be optimistic considering James continues to defy Father Time with his MVP-caliber play at 35 years old. Meanwhile, Davis has helped kick things up a notch by establishing himself as his best weapon on offense and the early favorite for Defensive Player of the Year honors.
