Ever since Anthony Davis came to the Los Angeles Lakers four years ago, they and LeBron James have wanted him to be their No. 1 offensive option. While he had some absolutely dominant performances in basketball, that didn’t happen consistently.
The team seems to want to shift more of the burden to Davis this season, especially considering that James is 38 years old. While he leads Los Angeles with 26.3 points per game through six games, that still isn’t enough for some.
Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas said on the “Gill Arena” show that Davis admires James so much that he cannot take the keys to the offense away from him. He then added that when a team has two stars or superstars, it needs to have the keys to the offense because they won’t be handed over willingly (h/t Lakers Daily ).
“He adored him so much,” Arenas said. “…But think about it. When you have two stars on your team, no one handles the keys, only one person takes them. When Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal) handed the keys to Kobe (Bryce) Ryant)? “Absolutely. “
So far this season, James has played more minutes than planned. In 35.7 minutes, he averaged 24.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists while shooting 56.0% from the field and 36.1% from three-point range.
While he’s playing well, others need to step up on both ends of the floor so he can conserve enough energy for the playoffs.
Story originally appeared on LeBron Wire