Currently, the focus of LeBron James and Anthony Davis is on the Los Angeles Lakers’ postseason and trying to take down the Denver Nuggets. But whenever the Lakers’ season ends, James and Davis still have more basketball ahead of them.
Both LeBron and Davis were named to the initial Team USA roster that will participate in the Olympics this summer in Paris. It will be the first time either Lakers star will represent Team USA since the 2012 Olympics in London, but the two had no relationship as Davis had just been drafted into the NBA.
Now 12 years later, LeBron is very much looking forward to sharing that Olympic stage with his good friend and Lakers teammate.
“That means everything. It’s been the first time in 12 years for me representing Team USA,” LeBron said. “I’ve had a lot of great times representing the red, white and blue in the summer games, the Olympics. So I’m looking forward to doing that and doing it alongside my buddy. It’s gonna be extremely fun. We’ve done it before but he was fresh out of college and we hadn’t won a championship together, we hadn’t spent a lot of seasons together.
“But to be alongside him and the rest of the 10 guys as well, including the coaching staff and the whole staff that’s part of USAB, I just want to thank Grant Hill and the rest of those guys over there on picking me, picking AD and I think when that moment happens, we’ll be extremely excited and extremely happy to put those uniforms back on and go against the world. It will be a huge moment.”
Joining James and Davis on the initial roster is Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker, Tyrese Haliburton, Bam Adebayo, Kawhi Leonard and Jrue Holiday.
These Olympic experiences are unlike anything else and really allow players to build connections and relationships. For LeBron and Davis the bond they have built now with the Lakers will further help them to shine together on the big Olympic stage this summer.
Anthony Davis: Lakers must hang their hats on defense to beat Nuggets
The Olympics are later in the summer, but directly in front of Anthony Davis and LeBron James are the defending champion Denver Nuggets in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Finals. And if the Lakers plan on a different outcome this time around, Davis believes it is all about defense.
Davis said the Lakers must hang their hats on their defense. While he acknowledges it will be difficult with all of the weapons Denver has, Davis feels that if the Lakers can lock in on that side, limit the Nuggets to one shot, and get out in transition, they have a real chance to make some noise.
