Some fans may still consider LeBron James the best player in the NBA, but Jeanie Buss suggested another Los Angeles Lakers player may justify the label when healthy.
When discussing the team’s late-season turnaround on The Athletic NBA Show, the Lakers owner identified Anthony Davis as a big reason for their surge.
“There’s an argument to be made that he was the best player in the NBA when he was playing,” Buss said.
“There’s an argument to be made that he [Anthony Davis] was the best player in the NBA when he was playing.”
Do you agree?
Jeanie Buss joined the latest The Athletic NBA Show to discuss more on the Los Angeles Lakers: pic.twitter.com/LiYOsMPH5d
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Buss said she received death threats after a 3-10 start. However, Davis was a huge catalyst behind a playoff push when returning from an extended absence in late January.
Davis finished the regular season with 25.9 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. The eight-time All-Star posted the highest field-goal percentage (56.3) of his career and his best PER (27.8) since joining the Lakers in 2019.
He then averaged 22.6 points, 14.1 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks during a playoff run that ended in the Western Conference Finals. Davis grabbed at least 20 boards in the Lakers’ first and last win over the Golden State Warriors.
It was the best Davis looked since directing the Lakers to a championship in 2020. Buss rewarded the 30-year-old by signing off on a three-year, $186 million extension through 2028.
General manager Rob Pelinka recently called Davis “a pillar of the franchise” when identifying the new contract as an offseason priority.
“In our conversations with him, it was really centered around his character. Who he is as a person, how he treats his teammates, his commitment to wanting to be the hardest worker and just helping establish our culture with that,” Pelinka told Spectrum SportsNet, via Lakers Nation. “Clearly, he’s one of the game’s most dominant two-way players, but to see his desire to kind of take on those leadership reins was significant to us to have those conversations with him.”
Yet the “when playing” part of Buss’ argument is a significant obstacle. Davis has played 194 games in four seasons with the Lakers, with last season’s 56 representing an improvement over previous years.
If he stays healthy, Davis could remind everyone that he’s still one of the NBA’s top players. Whether he’s the best is another story.