LeBron James On Why He And Anthony Davis Are So Close: 'We're Not Jealous Of Each Other'
LeBron James recently joked about his bond with Anthony Davis, likening it to the comedy film "Step Brothers."
But on Thursday, a reporter asked James to seriously reflect on why their dynamic is so strong on and off the court.
James paused for a moment.
"We're not jealous of each other," James said in a videoconference Thursday. "I think that's the best thing. In professional sports, you have guys that join forces to become alpha males. That's what they call them. Two guys that have been dominant in a specific sport on their own respective teams. And they get together and they talk about how dominant they can be, and they talk about this is going to be this and that. I believe jealousy creeps in a lot. And that is the absolute contrary of what we are. We know who we are. We know what we're about. We want the best, seriously, every single day, both on and off the floor, for one another."
That's paid off for the Lakers, who have a 1-0 series lead over the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals and are three wins away from their first championship since 2010. Game 2 is Friday at 6 p.m. PST.
James and Davis have glided the Lakers through the postseason with an almost perfectly-timed dance. They alternate leading the team through different games quarters and stretches as though they were passing a baton back and forth.
It's been seamless and effortless, sprinkled with a combination of brotherly teasing and truly being there for each other in down moments.
Their relationship began when Davis was 15 years old and attended a basketball camp James held in Ohio. It grew when James became a mentor of sorts to the 19-year-old Davis during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. And it flourished after Davis was traded to the Lakers last summer.
"We hold each other accountable," Davis said. "When we watch film or even during the course of a game, if I did something wrong, he tells me. If he does something wrong, I tell him. I think that's what makes it work, knowing that we trust one another to make reads, to make calls. We're able to talk to one another. Some guys on some teams are afraid to jump on the star player. And it's everyone on our team, our team, a guy can tell a guy something, and we know it's coming from a great place and we know it's coming from a guy who wants to win."
James, a three-time NBA champion who is in his 17th season in the league, knows that its rare for a relationship between two superstars to be so easy.
There's been so many examples of it not working -- James and Kyrie Irving on the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal on the Lakers, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen on the Boston Celtics, Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen on the Houston Rockets, just to name a few.
"Jealousy and envy has killed a lot of great things, not only in sports, but in general," James said. "If you're able to just throw that to the side and throw your egos to the side, but continue to bring that confidence of what you're trying to do of keeping the main thing the main thing. Not saying it's that easy, but for us, it's that easy when it comes to our relationship."
Davis, however, was willing to humor a reporter who asked him if he were to be jealous of James for something, what would it be?
In fact, he didn't hesitate in his response.
"That he has a ring," Davis said. "But he made a promise to me [that he'd help me get one], and so far he's kept it. Hopefully I don't have to be envious of that much longer."
