Since they joined forces 3½ years ago, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, by all accounts, have been very close.
They teamed to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA championship in their first season together, and they have comprised arguably the league’s best superstar duo since the 2019-20 season.
Over the last two seasons, however, the team has struggled, and some fans and observers have placed an outsized amount of the blame on Davis, mostly because he has been injury prone.
When healthy, he has been dominant most of the time — with the possible exception of the past week or so.
Other than in Wednesday’s win over the New Orleans Pelicans, in which Davis had 28 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots, he has played lackluster ball during that stretch.
Commentator Colin Cowherd, in relaying what a source said, claimed that perhaps James is unhappy with Davis, and he even implied that Davis could be moved in the near future.
"LeBron has always tried to get along with everybody… Michael Jordan would have just called out Westbrook or Anthony Davis."
— @ColinCowherd pic.twitter.com/3VeAkjMr3x
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) February 15, 2023
“I talked to an NBA source who I’ve known for a long time. He said the Dallas Mavericks and Anthony Davis, keep your eye on it. Anthony Davis is pouting. LeBron’s holding him accountable. LeBron’s not happy with him. A.D.’s gone into a funk. It’s not coincidence.”
Cowherd referenced Davis not looking happy when James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time career scoring record last week, and he also surmised that perhaps James is unhappy at head coach Darvin Ham for not holding Davis accountable for his poor play.
Given the lack of details in this report, one should take it with a grain of salt.
James has always been notoriously passive-aggressive when he isn’t happy with some aspect of his team, but if the Lakers start playing well — they looked very good versus the Pelicans with their new roster despite some deficiencies — perhaps it will soon be water under the bridge.
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