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The Los Angeles Lakers' most realistic path to winning a championship this season involves Anthony Davis supplanting LeBron James as his team's clear-cut best player, playing well enough and staying healthy enough to make a legitimate case for MVP. Even James isn't afraid to admit that reality; he's been mentioning that ideal succession plan for years.
Asked at Media Day whether the Lakers are “his team” as 2023-24 dawns, though, a diplomatic Davis was uninterested in indulging that question.
“I think this is the Lakers' team,” he said, per ClutchPoints' Michael Corvo. “I play for the Lakers.”
There's a chance that James, even entering his 21st season while nearing age 39, is better in 2023-24 than the last time he took the floor in the Western Conference Finals. The four-time champion was slowed throughout the Lakers' playoff run by a right foot injury, one that may or may not have required offseason surgery. Either way, James should at least enter the regular season healthier than he was at any point since initially suffering the injury in late March.
It speaks to Davis' arguably unsurpassed defensive impact and rare offensive ability that he could be Los Angeles' best player anyway. The swing skill for Davis remains the jumper. He just hasn't been same jump-shooter since the 2020 bubble, when he lit nets ablaze from mid-range and consistently threatened defenses beyond the arc en route to winning the first championship of his career.
Could another come for Davis and the Lakers in 2023-24? If both Davis and James stay healthy and the former is one of the several best players in basketball, it's certainly possible.
