[ad_1]
LAS VEGAS — LeBron James sat on the podium, barely soaking wet after rushing through the post-game champagne celebration after winning the NBA tournament MVP in the season on Saturday. He placed the cup on his left. To his right sat the man who made the tools and the one, that’s right, who beat him in Saturday’s 123-109 championship victory over the Indiana Pacers.
Despite 41 points, 20 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks from Anthony Davis — Indiana’s Myles Turner was forced to fumble while fending off the big man’s relentless attack. Los Angeles Lakers in the paint — James and Davis have no problem in regulation.
“I know who I am, he knows who he is,” James told ESPN when asked about his partnership with Davis now in its fifth season — longer than they team up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami or Kyrie Irving and Kevin. Love in Cleveland. “So, there is no conflict, we are not trying to compete with each other on the court or in a way of life, he knows or if he is, I also know that I am.
“All we’re trying to do is hold each other accountable when it comes to work and try to do the best we can for each other, but when one doesn’t succeed , trying to pick each other up, to no avail. Jealousy. There is not a jealous bone in our bodies. We are never jealous of each other.
As James continued to push the limits of what a player can do in his 21st season– he had 24 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and a 2 steals in the clincher – that didn’t hurt Davis’ development.
If anything, James has done his best to support Davis, calling the 30-year-old “the face of the franchise” on ESPN at the start of training camp and continuing to put in 12 years. the age in which it will be successful.
Davis said he was taken to Las Vegas, where James and the Lakers fed Davis quickly and became familiar — he went 6-for-10 in the first quarter, just the second time this season when he attempted 10 or more in a quarter – – and went to him all night.
“He would say things like, ‘Let’s take AD.’ Or, ‘Run this for AD,'” Davis said. “He’s doing a good job of making sure I get my touches to get a chance to run ball games like tonight. Up, who can I lean on for advice, or just he knows.
“He just knows me… I just saw that night tonight and said, ‘I’m going to follow your lead.’ And he was able to do it, and the team was able to let me be the guy and just feed.”
Lakers backup center Christian Wood, who signed with LA to a minimum contract in part because of Davis’ efforts, said Davis called his shots.
“I think AD, he was at Level 1 and took it to Level 3,” Wood told ESPN. “He told me before the game, ‘This is Game 7 for me, I’m going to show you what Game 7 is.’ I’ve never been there before. I said, ‘Okay, show me.’ And he went out there and got 40 and 20. It was amazing.
The victory was the Lakers’ 12th in their last 16 games, and they climbed to number 5 in the Western Conference standings.
The Lakers have not been shy about their motivation to win the tournament after the competition. The $500,000 prize money for each player on the winning team was a priority for James, and he knew it was a far cry from his tough upbringing in Akron, Ohio.
“We played for rights,” James told ESPN about his pickup games. “You don’t have money to play for cash growth.”
James said he woke up Saturday morning eager to finish the job with the Pacers.
“I will go there,” he said. “Yeah, why not? Why not? One game? Me and one game, I’ll go for it. Definitely.”
It’s another feather in the cap for James and Davis, who combined to win a championship in 2020 in their first season together and have earned their first tournament crown of the season.
Davis said he knows that adding his information will not indemnify him from future criticism. He attracts scrutiny, it seems, no matter what he does.
James’ confidence in him, his team’s continued confidence in him, has allowed him to develop a thick skin.
“The ‘I-don’t-solve-or-donate-?’ Yeah. I got it,” Davis told ESPN when asked about his outlook. “And I don’t (think). As long as my team wins and my guys and I are in the locker room, that’s all I care about, I don’t care what anybody else thinks , I really mean it. Don’t care.”