The Los Angeles Lakers made a statement via the In-Season Tournament, putting the league on notice. After coasting to the first trophy in the tournament's history, LeBron and AD have the purple and gold skyrocketing up the power rankings. The team is currently rolling, and the two superstars deserve a ton of credit for that camaraderie.
Head coach Darvin Ham publicly proclaimed his MVP vote for LeBron, and we have all bore witness to the unbelievable things he has done. The oldest player in the league is currently making some of the youngest players in the league look silly.
Meanwhile, Anthony Davis has one of the strongest cases for this season's Defensive Player of the Year award. If he can reciprocate the unstoppable abilities he exemplified in the Las Vegas finale, he could easily find himself in consideration for league MVP.
With the tandem looking as good as ever, it has us thinking back on some of the other great duos that have dominated together with the Lakers. It is tough to rank a list of such equally terrific twosome's, but we will let you decide the best of the best for yourself.
The best duos in Los Angeles Lakers history (in no particular order):
Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West
As the inaugural superstar duo, Chamberlain and West led the Los Angeles Lakers to its first non-Minneapolis NBA Championship in 1972. Chamberlain averaged 17.3 points and 19 rebounds per game in 288 career games with Jerry West. West was his usual unstoppable self in those seasons spanning from 1968-1973.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson
Kareem and Magic are among the NBA's most prolific duos in the history of the NBA. The two won a whopping 5 championships together, sustaining careers of supreme success. In 685 games with Magic Johnson as his point guard, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 20.2 points, 7.4 boards, and 2.8 assists per game. In the same sample of games with Cap patrolling the paint, Magic averaged 19.4 points, 11.2 assists, and 7.4 rebounds per night.
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal
Another of the game's most lethal combinations, Shaq and Kobe were a truly uncontainable pairing. The two led the Lakeshow to 3 titles as teammates, with the team falling into a period of decline following O'Neal's trade to Miami in the summer of 2004.
In the tandem's 461 games together, Kobe put up 21.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game. Over that same haul, Shaq pummeled his way to per-night averages of 26.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.5 blocks.
Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol
Shaq's departure was a tough pill for the fanbase to swallow, and it took some time for the entire organization to regain its footing. The next few seasons were pretty rough, with Kobe trying to lead the charge on his own.
Finally, just prior to the 2008 trade deadline, the team acquired spectacular Spanish big man Pau Gasol in a blockbuster deal with the Grizzlies. Pau and Kobe were in sync immediately and battled their way to two championships as teammates. In the duo's 357 games together, the Mamba averaged 26.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists. On the flip side, Gasol put up 17.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.4 blocks per game.
Anthony Davis and LeBron James
Lakers Nation is fortunate to have one of it's all-time greatest duos presently leading the team. Davis and AD have been fantastic together since the two became teammates prior to the 2019-2020 season.
That first season yielded the duo's sole NBA title to date, but they have sustained their dominance throughout the years. In 165 games together, AD has averaged 24.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.3 blocks per night.
During that same span, LeBron has averaged 25.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.1 assists. The two of them have done great things together, with their latest being the win in the NBA's preliminary In-Season tourney. Time will tell if they can bring home more hardware this season.