:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72742742/1727529901.0.jpg "Lakers, LeBron James, Anthony Davis snubbed in annual NBA general manager survey")
The Lakers once again didn’t get much love from NBA general managers in the annual league survey.
For a team as big as the Lakers, it’s nearly impossible to fly under the radar. Maybe they can’t actually get the attention, but after GM’s annual survey released on Tuesday, it’s clear that no one is buying into any of the hype, at least for now.
While it should be taken with a pinch of salt, the annual GM survey does give us a variety of details on how the league views a given season. And not many general managers have a favorable opinion of the Lakers as a team or as individuals.
The Lakers only finished first in one category, and that was LeBron James being named the league’s best leader. He received 27% of the vote, with Steph Curry in second place with 23%.
LeBron also ranks as the second most versatile player in the league, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the second-highest basketball IQ behind Nikola Jokic. He was also ranked as the third-best passer in the league behind Jokic and Luka Doncic.
If anything, it was the areas where the Lakers were left out or barely featured that felt the most egregious. For example, Anthony Davis doesn’t get much respect as a defender despite his incredible performance in the playoffs.
In the voting for the league’s best defensive player, Davis did not enter the top six vote-getters. He ranks just fourth among the top interior defenders, with Jaren Jackson Jr. easily ranked No. 1. Rudy Gobert and Brook Lopez are both ranked ahead of Davis, while Davis is tied with Draymond Green.
This isn’t the first time he’s been snubbed for defensive recognition, as he wasn’t named to the All-Defensive team last year.
The most interesting ending for Davis was this year’s MVP voting, in which he finished first. He also received some recognition in the voting for the league’s best center, although Nikola Jokic received 93% of the votes, with the remaining votes split between AD and Joel Embiid.
As a team, the Lakers received zero votes for a team to win the NBA championship. They received only 3% of the total votes for first place in the Western Conference. Third place was the most common final placement for the Lakers, with 27% of the vote. This was followed by 23% of the vote for fourth place and 20% for second place. The remaining voters (27% of them) expect the Lakers to drop out of the top four.
The Lakers did finish fourth in the Best Offseason voting, though they trailed the Trail Blazers. There’s nothing a general manager loves more than praising a team that has to trade a superstar.
Again, all of this is very subjective and general managers are very emotional in all the votes they make. It’s basically friends voting for their friends, and the Lakers aren’t often in that inner circle.
As always, the plucky underdog Lakers will take on the world.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter: @Jacobrud.
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