The Los Angeles Lakers are 2-1 since the Orlando bubble restart began last week and even though they’re still a long way off from winning the Chip, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in the community who says they shouldn’t be favored going in.
Their success is all thanks to the combined powers of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who are averaging +10.2 points, +2.4 rebounds and +4.3 assists per 100 possessions when they are on the court together.
But between the two of them, which is the more important player? It might sound like a pointless question, but fans have been debating it pretty intensely online.
It all started with this tweet, in which a user pointed out a stat that showed Davis leading the Lakers in most statistical categories.
https://twitter.com/Magic_HOF/status/1290668206827474945
which showed the net rating of the Lakers with just LeBron and just Anthony Davis on the floor.
Dummies got learn basketball pic.twitter.com/JicGZYwAjq
— 👀 (@KingRuben23) August 4, 2020
Apparently, the Lakers have a much higher net efficiency with just LeBron on the floor than with only Davis. Buy, as one fan pointed out, James wasn’t able to achieve nearly the same level of success without AD last year.
How’d Lebron do last year minus AD?? pic.twitter.com/O44GfkH7ce
— Mike (@FOH_Bud) August 4, 2020
Advocates for both sides continued to flood the comments…
https://twitter.com/OfficialJaeGood/status/1290760942813421573
You can’t even tell me what net efficiency is without looking it up
— Mike (@FOH_Bud) August 5, 2020
Glad someone with common sense , if ad is carrying that team that much how come he couldnt carry the pelicans ? Ill wait without lebron that team is just another team out west
— Thaddeus Thomas (@thad345) August 5, 2020
There really is no answer to the question. Both players are superstars and the Lakers would very obviously be worse-off without either one of them. In the end, though, it is their work together (as a unit) that really makes them lethal.
Let’s not take that away from them…
