NBA: Ranking every team’s best player in 2019-20
. . LeBron James. 4. player. 20.
Ranking LeBron James at No. 4 is either an insult to one of the two greatest players of all time or an unfair nod of respect to him. Prior to last season James made eight straight NBA Finals, sustained a heavy workload with efficiency and consistency not seen since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and won three titles despite inconsistent supporting casts.
James also turns 35 in December, has played over 56,000 career minutes and clearly took a step back last season, when he suffered the first major injury of his career and seemed wholly disinterested in playing defense.
Everyone seems ready to assume he will be a positive on that end this year because the Los Angeles Lakers are assumed contenders, and they are probably correct … but if they are not and James is never going to be that level of defender again, he is no longer the clear-cut best player in the league.
Age, workload, team construction and coaching could all work against James this season as he balances a desire to go after another championship with his other priorities, namely extending his career until his son is in the league and building his off-court empire.
His move to Los Angeles was likely made based on those priorities more so than for on-court success, but with Anthony Davis on board he can now pursue both. How does that balance work out? Likely with James in the mix for the very best in the league yet again, but there is just enough uncertainty to keep him at fourth.
James, for the first time in a decade, will need to prove something.
Looking ahead: James’s replacement as the Lakers’ best player is already on the roster in Anthony Davis. While his departure from New Orleans was rough, it came after years of providing elite two-way play as the league’s best big man. The competition for that title is harder than it has been in years, with a crop of young centers pushing Davis, but alongside James he could grow even more.
At some point, be it this season or down the line, Davis will be the Lakers’ best player.