The LeBron James-Anthony Davis tandem has been so dominant for the Lakers this NBA postseason that it has led many in the sports talk world to ponder the question: Is Davis the best teammate ever to play with James?
A few great players come to mind, with Heat legend Dwyane Wade at the top of the list. Wade was a superstar when James made "The Decision" to take his talents to South Beach; he already had an NBA championship and Finals MVP on his resume. Together, they made four consecutive Finals appearances and won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, with Wade playing Robin to James' Batman. In those four seasons, Wade averaged 25.5, 22.1, 21.2 and 19.0 points per game.
FINALS GAME 2: James, Davis power LA past Miami
Davis hasn't yet earned the same accolades as Wade, but he looks well on his way to getting them after putting up 32 points and 14 rebounds in the Lakers' 124-114 Finals Game 2 win over the Heat on Friday. That performance followed a 34-point, nine-rebound effort in LA's Game 1 win Wednesday. At this rate, he'll be the favorite to win Finals MVP over James, who has taken on a secondary scoring role while becoming the team's primary facilitator — which isn't to say that James hasn't also been sensational. He has averaged 29 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the series' first two games.
The Lakers win Game 2 124-114, taking a NBA Finals record 47 3's.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 3, 2020
LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the first pair of Lakers teammates with 30+ points in a Finals game since Kobe and Shaq in 2002 Game 3 vs the Nets pic.twitter.com/Yu6iIrtv65
ESPN's Kendrick Perkins, who played with James on the Cavaliers in the 2014-15 and 2017-18 seasons, believes Davis complements James better than anyone else who has played with him. And while Perkins has been known to have some hot takes when it comes to James, this one seems pretty reasonable. So reasonable, in fact, that Wade said he agreed with him.
I agree Big Perk https://t.co/59qWoMz7y9
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) October 3, 2020
It's important to note that Davis and Wade are two very different types of players. Wade was on the back end of his prime years when he was paired with James, and Davis is just now entering his peak years. If James and Wade were Batman and Robin, it feels as if James and Davis are Batman and Superman.