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LeBron James has been the LA Lakers' best player since they acquired him back in the 2018-19 NBA season. Since then, the four-time league MVP has played 286 games and led the Lakers to a title in 2020. In his sixth season with the team and 21st in the league, James has started to miss games, and here we explore how the Lakers fare without him.
The Lakers face the Portland Trail Blazers and they are without LeBron James for the first time in the 2023-24 season. As the game goes on, Lakers fans are on their toes since the team has lost 67 times in 111 matches that the 19-time NBA All-Star didn't play.
By the numbers, LeBron James has averaged 25.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks in nine games this season. As a Laker, he has given the franchise 27.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.2 steals a night.
In nine games, the Los Angeles Lakers have a losing record of 4-5 and they just snapped their three-game losing streak against the Phoenix Suns.
LeBron James has designated Anthony Davis as the new leader of the LA Lakers
LeBron James turns 39 years old on December 30 and is still considered one of the best in the league. As the four-time NBA champion seeks his fifth championship ring, he knows that father time is catching up and would like to give the reigns to Anthony Davis as the new leader of the franchise.
Prior to the start of the NBA season, James had a chance to talk to Dave McMenamin of ESPN and expressed that he had huge expectations from Davis.
“He is the face [of the franchise]. You look at all these [retired] numbers that surround this facility, all the greats that have come here and AD is one of them," James said (via Bleacher Report).
Injuries have derailed Davis' progress as he has only played 194 out of 238 games from 2019-20 to the 2022-23 season. Nonetheless, when Davis is with the Lakers, he provides them with 24.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.2 steals per game.
In the summer, the Lakers affirmed that Davis would definitely take over the Lakers soon, extending him for a three-year, $186 million contract. This deal puts him in the Lakers uniform until the 2027-28 season, wherein James would be 43 years old and might have retired.
