Former Teammate of LeBron James says Anthony Davis is Not Ready to Lead The Lakers

Published 10/13/2020, 9:13 AM EDT

The Los Angeles Lakers picked up their 17th NBA Championship, defeating Miami Heat in the NBA Finals 4-2. LeBron James played excellently, winning his 4th Finals MVP in the process. But given that he will be 36 by the beginning of next season, there are many who believe that Anthony Davis will now lead the Lakers as the primary option. However, a former teammate of LeBron James has come forward to shoot this theory down.

Anthony Davis had a great first season at the Lakers. He led the team in all statistical categories except assists and came close to being crowned the Defensive Player of the Year. His performances in the regular season and the playoffs validate the Lakers, who parted ways with lots of valuable assets in order to acquire him from the New Orleans Pelicans.

In the playoffs, Davis averaged about 28 points and 10 rebounds. That is a double-double every night. He and James combined for a majority of Lakers’ points and even helped get the rest of the roster involved. With ‘The Brow’ only being 27 years old, his future role as the Lakers’ star man is inevitable. People are arguing that now is the time for Davis to be the main star at the ‘Lake Show’. But not everyone shares that opinion.

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Richard Jefferson Doesn’t Think Anthony Davis is Ready…Yet

Richard Jefferson was on ESPN’s The Jump. When asked if he thought AD was ready to “take the keys from LeBron James” in Los Angeles, Jefferson said, “No, not yet. This was just the first like first understanding of what it takes to win a championship. He has all the ability he has all the talent, but you have to learn, and if you know, Jimmy Butler was a great example of that.

“I guarantee you Jimmy Butler had never been as tired as he was in the NBA finals because he learned what it was to give his all. I think Anthony Davis had some ups and downs in this postseason where you were looking for him. When you take the keys that means that you are showing up every single night no matter what and he’s close but he’s not there yet.”

Jefferson played with LeBron James in Cleveland for two years. He was part of the historic 2016 Cavaliers team that overturned a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals to beat the Golden State Warriors and win the franchise its first NBA Championship.

Is Jefferson right about AD being the leader? Can he lead the team with ‘The King’ still in LA?

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Aaditya Krishnamurthy is an NBA & NFL journalist for EssentiallySports, before which he worked at BusinessWorld magazine. He has been a fan of Basketball for over 10 years now, since Shaquille O’Neal was a Phoenix Suns player. During his time at Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts, he started a sports magazine for the college called the Overtime Tribune and hosted the Overtime Tribune Podcast until he graduated.

Former Teammate of LeBron James says Anthony Davis is Not Ready to Lead The Lakers

Richard Jefferson Doesn’t Think Anthony Davis is Ready…Yet

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