Los Angeles Lakers: 2 reasons not to worry about Andre Drummond
By Jason Reed
1. LeBron James is only going to make Andre Drummond better
LeBron James is one of the greatest passers of all time and is someone who has consistently made his teammates better throughout his career. Everyone knows how great LeBron is and how he is defying father time, but his best trait is that he can do all he does while making those around him better.
More specifically, bigs have played far better with LeBron James. Just think of all of the bigs that have played with LeBron James and found their footing or played the best basketball of their careers.
It started back in Cleveland with the likes of Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao. Chris Andersen looked better when he played in Miami with LeBron. Tristan Thompson played great in Cleveland and has not been the same guy without LeBron.
Ivica Zubac finally hit his footing when LeBron James became his teammate. He has continued strong play for the Los Angeles Clippers, but he was not on the map until LeBron. Heck, look at Dwight Howard. His career was essentially over until DeMarcus Cousins tore his ACL and now he is a big role player on another contender.
Whether it is the focus that LeBron draws in double teams, the way he drives and kicks to a big, or his ability to throw a picture-perfect lob, his game benefits bigs perhaps more than any other position on the court.
And thus, I would not be surprised if we saw the most efficient play of Drummond’s career.