Getty LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers with Anthony Davis.
The Los Angeles Lakers are playing great basketball right now.
LA leads the Western Conference standings with a 21-3 record. They’re also riding a four game winning streak.
Anthony Davis has been playing good basketball for the purple and gold. He told me at the beginning of the season that an NBA Championship is his personal goal for the Los Angeles Lakers as well as winning the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award.
He’s playing like it.
AD has season statistical averages of 27.7 points, nine rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.7 blocks per contest.Davis scored 50 points in LA’s home win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
LeBron James has also been playing good basketball. Arguably an MVP candidate this season, LBJ has tallied a season average of 25.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 10.8 assists and 1.3 steals per contest.
“He’s been playing great,” actor and comedian Michael Rapaport told me on the Scoop B Radio podcast.
“The guy has an incredible work ethic. He’s so relaxed. He had a great offseason. I would love to know his offseason regimen. How can a guy continue to do this 17 years? Year after year, year after year and you’re in year 17 looking as good as you looked in year seven? They’re not winning the championship either but they’re going to be a hard out.”
The Lakers look good but Rapaport sees another LA team winning the NBA Finals. Yup, you guessed it!
GettyKawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers controls possession of the ball in front of LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers
“The Clippers are winning the Championship,” he told Scoop B Radio.
Whoa! What?
“It’s still early,” he said.
“But obviously the Clippers are a major problem and the Lakers have been great. They’ve got two and a half centers. All three of them can play. Anthony Davis is like the half of the centers when he wants to be. Dwight [Howard] and JaVale [McGee] are long and big and have a lot of energy and are rim protectors. You know, they’re going to be tough. Kuzma I think is good. I think it’s going to be fun.
“As much as I can’t stand LeBron, you want to see everybody healthy; especially this year.”
With it being early, Rapaport says that there are other teams and players that interest him.
“You wanna see Houston healthy,” he said.
“You know, you wanna see everybody healthy. You wanna see Denver healthy. It’s gonna be a great year. I think it’s too early to tell but I think Toronto is going to a sleeper, not that you don’t know them, but they’re going to be a problem. Pacscal has started to step into his stardom well. That team is in the fourth seed in the East. But we know if you’re a basketball fan, this time of the year this is all hemming and hawing. Things are gonna get tight. Someone is gonna twist an ankle, somebody’s going to hurt a thumb and things are going to get more interesting and diversified. Some teams are going to take steps back and a couple of teams are going to step forward. I think Portland will continue to creep up in the Western into that ninth, eighth seed. Miami is a sleeper team. Denver’s been really good, I think Porzingis will continue to find his rhythm and improve with his health and other stuff.”