Lakers News: LeBron James Appears To Acknowledge Which Laker Needs The Most Touches

Los Angeles Lakers Hall of Famer LeBron James, an 18-time All-Star in the midst of his 20th NBA season, continues to play like one of the better scorers in the league.

But even LBJ seems to have finally realized that he should no longer be the focal point of his team's offense at this stage in his legendary career. It may have taken a five-game absence due to a left adductor injury for James to see just how special his running mate, All-NBA center Anthony Davis, can still be. What is undeniable is how feeding the ball to Davis in the post translates to wins on the court for Los Angeles.

Per Jovan Buha of The Athletic, James noted in postgame remarks following L.A.'s shocking 133-129 victory on the road against perhaps the best player in all of basketball, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and his mighty 15-6 Milwaukee Bucks, that the goal on this squad was simple: feeding Davis.

“It’s our job every night to get AD going, get him the ball, get the ball to him, and then it’s AD’s job to be assertive,” James remarked. “He’s just been doing that. And we love it.”

Last night, Davis had 44 points on 18-of-27 shooting. James also took 27 shots, making "just" 12, for 28 total points. James has moved more outside, allowing Davis and Russell Westbrook more room to operate in the interior than he would have in prior seasons.

James has been in a prior situation where he had hoped to eventually shift primary offensive duties to a younger star, when he teamed up with then-Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving in 2014. That transition ultimately never transpired in Cleveland, as James remained just too darn good to fully cede lead ball-handling duties to his junior compatriot. Irving ultimately demanded a trade out of town, and was granted one, to the Boston Celtics, in the summer of 2017. Even with Irving out of the picture, James powered Cleveland to its fourth straight NBA Finals appearance in 2018.

But with the 37-year-old James now clearly slowing down, both in terms of his actual on-court hops and his previously-unparalleled ability to stay healthy, the torch is really, finally being passed to the 29-year-old Davis, who has emerged as a two-way force with a revised shot diet (generally, way fewer jumpers, although he did nail two triples last night).