The Los Angeles Lakers created history on Saturday after claiming the first-ever In-season Tournament trophy. They didn’t leave any chance for the Indiana Pacers to have an upper hand in the game. The Lakers maintained a steady lead over the Pacers throughout the game and eventually sealed it with a 123-109 win. Importantly, Anthony Davis stole the limelight with his impeccable stats, dominating the paint from both ends. In response to the performance, the franchise leader LeBron James gave a perfect appreciation.

The Lakers center Davis has been the backbone of the team’s firepower in the last few seasons. Despite that, the star has constantly received criticism from the experts for his frequent injuries and inconsistency. However, the 30-year-old gave a perfect reply on the big stage with a huge 40-pointer. Let’s find out what James has said about the performance.

LeBron James compares AD to Shaquille O’Neal

The 4x NBA Champion Shaquille O’Neal always considered himself as the most dominant player in the league’s history. Towering 7ft. tall with a well-built body, he often took charge of the bucket with a field goal percentage of 58.2 and averaged 24 points per game. Similarly, Anthony Davis took up an almost identical role in the Lakers lineup. He has recorded an average of 24 points per game with a field goal percentage of 52. LeBron James, who won the MVP trophy of the inaugural NBA cup, compared his star teammate to Shaq.

During his trophy acceptance speech, the host, Malika Andrews, asked James about Davis’s dominant performance. King James without a beat, straight away compared him to the Lakers’ legend Shaquille O’Neal. He said, “That was a Shaq-like dominant performance. 40-20-multiple blocks. AD he was dominant.”

With that game, James collected almost all trophies from the league and wrote his name in the history books as the first MVP of the In-season Tournament.

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On the other hand, Anthony Davis took this opportunity to shut off the critics who questioned for not using his full potential.

Anthony Davis’ perfect response

During the Saturday night game, Hollywood actor Kevin Hart put on his analyst hat and criticized Davis for his lack of efforts to unlock his full potential. He even quoted the Celtics legend Kevin Garnett, backing his statement. Initially, Hart said, “AD is by far one of the most potentially dominant players in the basketball league. The lack of effort to become the best is what frustrates me the most.”

However, the statement didn’t end well for the comedian because minutes after he dropped that statement, AD turned up his extra cylinders and scored 41 points with 20 rebounds. Not only did AD shut his critics up, but his dominant performance won the game for the Lakers.

What do you make of the Shaq-AD comparison? Let us know in the comments below.

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