LeBron James vs. Kawhi Leonard: Who is the king of Los Angeles?
By Ronald Agers
Anthony Davis will be the litmus test to the Kevin Durant conspiracy theory on how it is to play with LeBron James.
Before Anthony Davis and the laundry list of NBA superstars rumored to being chased by the Lakers, Kevin Durant was the first. I knew that he would never be a Laker but boy was I wrong about him leaving the Warriors. It was this statement that set the media buzzing.
"“So much hype comes from being around LeBron from other people,” Durant said. “He has so many fanboys in the media. Even the beat writers just fawn over him. I’m like, we’re playing basketball here, and it’s not even about basketball at certain points. So I get why anyone wouldn’t want to be in that environment because it’s toxic. Especially when the attention is b******* attention, fluff. It’s not LeBron’s fault at all; it’s just the fact you have so many groupies in the media that love to hang on every word. Just get out of the way and let us play basketball.”"
Attention: Anthony Davis, your mission is to prove this conspiracy a myth. Many outlets (Myself included!) wondered why superstars kept rebuffing LeBron James’ recruiting efforts.
It seemed that nobody wanted to join LeBron James as of late. Then the February 2019 trade deadline happened and Davis wanted out of New Orleans with the Lakers in mind. Any other teams that were on the list probably were exaggerated (Especially Boston!).
This deal was groundbreaking for the league. Sure, Jimmy Butler shot a flamethrower to the Minnesota organization trying to get himself traded, but as we all know, the Lakers are looked at in a different light and microscope.
I mean if the Lakers can irritate the leader of the last dynasty in Steve Kerr, maybe they are on to something here.
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/1154428598117457920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1154428598117457920&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fbleacherreport.com%2Flos-angeles-lakers
Anthony Davis and LeBron James will have something in common this year. They both made a spectacle to team up and they better make this work.
The Pelicans did themselves no favors proving that they were committed to winning pre-David Griffin. The Dell Demps era was a colossal disaster. But now Davis is under the spotlight. Like it or not, he is now the example of what is going wrong in NBA free agency.
Davis’ reputation took a hit in this saga. Most look at Anthony Davis as a “pawn” to get LeBron James another NBA title orchestrated by Rich Paul. Do I believe this? No. But if the Lakers start slow next season, think about how many pundits will start the conversation.
It is no dispute that Anthony Davis is a top 5 NBA player. There is not a big man in the league that can deal with his athleticism and skill. The question is, can he stay on the floor long enough to showcase these skills?
He is currently working hard on his game and is working with a prominent shooting coach. Couple that with backing out of playing with the World Cup, Lakers fans should get the message that he is focused on making a deep playoff run.
He’d better make that message clear to everyone next year, especially when the Lakers traded away their future to get him.