As the new season in the NBA starts, the pecking order expected in the Los Angeles Lakers is that LeBron James is still on top, while Anthony Davis gets the No. 2 spot. This is pretty much based on the fact that based on the player’s years in the league. In fact, James pretty much had that spot, and never needed to defer to anyone. He has the rings, while Davis does not.
However, after officially joining the LA Lakers, it seems that Davis does not plan on taking the backseat to anyone at all. In an interview with Sports Illustrated with Alaa Abdeldaiem, Davis perceives himself to be the best player in the world.
He said, “I’m the best in the world. I think I do a lot of things that a lot of players can’t do as far as playing a complete game. I can play on the block, play on the perimeter, play defense on both ends, switch 1-5, guard, score the basketball. I want to be the most dominant player in the game, and I’m going to continue to do that. Obviously you have players like Kawhi, KD, LeBron, Steph all of those guys who are the same way. They’re great players, talented players, Hall of Famers, and that’s what makes our game fun. Everyone wants to be the best in the league. Everyone wants to be the most dominant, and that’s when our competitive edge comes out on the floor and makes the game so fun to watch.”
While Davis feels that way, the general consensus does not necessarily favor him. He does, however, have credible argument. So far, he has been able to finish third place for the MVP Award in the 2017-18 season. Plus, he was doing better for the 2018-19 one. He has great statistics on top of that. At 26 years old, he also has room to grow.
Unfortunately, he has not yet played at the same level of James’ caliber. So at the moment, despite his claims, the title does not seem to be gravitating towards him anytime soon.