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Thursday 24 September 2020 10:44, UK
Anthony Davis is not LeBron James' greatest-ever team-mate but provides the "perfect combination" for 'The King' at this stage of his career, says BJ Armstrong.
Three-time NBA champion Armstrong, who played alongside Michael Jordan on the all-conquering 1990s Chicago Bulls teams, joined fellow Heatcheck regulars Mo Mooncey and Ovie Soko to debate the best team-mates with whom LeBron James has shared the court in his 17-year career.
All three agreed that, although Davis' performances in his first season alongside James put him in the conversation, Dwyane Wade remains 'The King's' greatest team-mate.
James and Wade reached four successive NBA Finals between 2011 and 2014, winning two, together as members of the Miami Heat and the chemistry they shared produced a rich stream of spectacular plays.
"Anthony Davis is having a fantastic season and if you want to look this from his numbers, you can make a case for him (as LeBron's greatest team-mate)," said Mooncey. "But LeBron and Dwyane Wade are an all-time iconic NBA duo. Jay-Z has got bars about them!
"From a team-mate perspective, I just feel the chemistry between LeBron and Wade… look at those iconic plays - D-Wade throwing up the alley-oop for LeBron - they are going to go down in the history of the NBA record books. I look at it like this. In my opinion, when LeBron retires and looks back at his career and is asked to pick one guy to play with again, I feel he'd want to play with D-Wade again rather than anyone else he has played alongside."
Soko concurred: "A key word you mentioned was team-mate. What Dwyane Wade was able to do alongside LeBron James, the way those guys were able to gel was insane. It seemed like they had been playing together for absolutely years.
"Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving - with whom James won an NBA championship in 2016 with the Cleveland Cavaliers - are definitely talented and we have seen them take over games. But James and Wade were able to play off each other extremely well which made them so tough to handle. I can't say 'AD' is LeBron's greatest team-mate from one year."
Armstrong also agreed that Wade remains James' greatest team-mate, but also explained that Davis is the ideal partner for LeBron at this stage in his career.
"You must remember, this is not prime LeBron James," he said. "The prime LeBron James was a standalone player who could play with anyone and be a great player because of his magnificent talent. This is the first time he has actually needed another player to still be that LeBron James. That player happens to be Anthony Davis. Years before, it didn't really matter.
"Dwyane Wade fit what LeBron James does naturally - athletic ability and versatility. When you put that with Wade, you were taking advantage of every aspect of LeBron's game: playing in transition; switching; causing havoc on the defensive end.
"Davis is the perfect combination with LeBron James now. Why? Because he can play a quarter, a half, an entire game and allow LeBron James to defer, which is something he has never had to do before. He is ageing gracefully, but he needs that at this stage of his career.
"I've watched LeBron since high school. This is the first time I have ever seen James have to defer. He has never had to defer. He has never not been the best player on his team. He is at the stage of his career where he has to try to pick and choose his moments in terms of when to take over a game. Doing it for 48 minutes, night to night, is pretty difficult at this time in his career.
"But right now, he really needs Anthony Davis. I give him credit for knowing where he's at, at this time in his career. Self-reflection is always important for a player."
Watch Lakers @ Nuggets Game 4 live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Friday morning (2am) live on Sky Sports Arena; TNT pre-game with Shaq, Kenny and Chuck from 1am, also on Arena
