5. The Partnership
Superstars don’t always easily blend well on the court. Star power doesn’t always produce winning teams. But the LA Lakers have a history in which at least five sets of Hall of Fame teammates shined on the court together.
Elgin Baylor/Jerry West, West/Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar/Magic Johnson/James Worthy, Shaquille O’Neal/Kobe Bryant (despite their differences) and Kobe/Pau Gasol. The Lakers made multiple NBA Finals appearances with each of those pairings and won a total of 11 titles.
So far, at least, it looks like Davis and LeBron James are following the team’s historical blueprint. They’ve fit together seamlessly and have already formed one of the league’s great pick and roll combinations.
Together, the two of them are averaging nearly 50 points per game. AD is grabbing just under 10 rebounds and blocking 3.2 shots per contest while LBJ is snaring 7.6 boards and gathering 11.2 assists.
As fans hoped, they have been a virtually unguardable dynamic duo whose skills are extremely complementary to each other. And they have also contributed greatly on the defensive end (more about that coming up). After 13 games, it is already apparent that their partnership has lived up to the team’s grandiose expectations.