Since Anthony Davis came to the Los Angeles four years ago, the Lakers’ intention has been to have him become their No. 1 offensive option. While he has had some absolutely dominant stretches of basketball, it hasn’t happened on a consistent basis.
It seemed the team wanted to shift the burden even more to Davis this season, considering James is 38 years of age. While Davis is leading L.A. in scoring (26.3 ppg) through six games, it still isn’t enough for some.
Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas said on “Gil’s Arena” that Davis admires James too much to take the keys to the offense from him. He added that when a team has two stars or superstars, the keys to the offense need to be taken because they will not be willingly handed off (h/t Lakers Daily).
“He admires him too much,” Arenas said. “… But think about it. When you have two stars on a team, no one is handing over the keys, just one is taking ’em. When did Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) hand over the keys to Kobe (Bryant)? Never.”
James is playing more minutes than planned so far this season. In 35.7 minutes, he’s putting up 24.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists a game while shooting 56% from the field and 36.1% from 3-point range.
While he is playing well, others will need to step up on both ends of the floor so he can save enough energy for the playoffs.