Fact or fluke: Anthony Davis has officially supplanted LeBron James as Lakers’ top dog

Lakers center Anthony Davis can reach a point of two-way dominance that few (if any) other players in the NBA are capable of, and we saw him achieve that game-breaking level in LA's season-opening win against Minnesota on Tuesday. AD posted 36 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks and 1 steal, shooting 11-23 from the field and 13-15 from the free throw line.

Somehow, that statline undersells just how fully he took over the game. Davis annihilated any attempts by Minnesota to enter his paint, rebuffing Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert or anyone else who had the gall to sail to Davis Island. He was just as unstoppable in the offensive paint, evidenced by his 15 free throw attempts. His midrange game was cooking too, and when everything is going right like it was last night, Davis is a riddle that is impossible to solve.

His costar in LA, LeBron James, had a solid game too, posting 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, though it clearly wasn't the full takeover that Davis gave. In year 22, is LeBron officially the second option in LA? Has Davis become the top dog for the Lakers?

Yes — and Lakers fans should be thrilled about that. While LeBron is still capable of marvelous games in year 22 and remains one of the top facilitators in the league, AD has a higher ceiling on a nightly basis. He brings elite paint protection every single night, sometimes singlehandedly keeping the Lakers in games with striking defensive performances. When his offense is working in tandem with that defensive brilliance — which happens more than folks care to admit — he is nearly unrivaled in the impact he has on games.

Davis needs to play with someone like LeBron James in order to be fully effective. That's not really a knock on Davis, though, as essentially all centers (Nikola Jokic not included) need a great distributor by their side to be maximized. So while James is still essential for the success of the team, Anthony Davis has surpassed him as the number one guy in LA. In fact, he might have done it last season.

Anthony Davis is coming off one of his best (and healthiest) seasons

Perhaps the biggest knock on Anthony Davis throughout his career has been his inability to stay on the court, but the Lakers big man played in a career-high 76 games last season, and that availability earned him his first All-NBA selection since 2019-20. He was reliable, both health-wise and in his on-court performance.

There wasn't one specific moment last year when Davis passed James as the Lakers main option, but it's pretty clear now that AD will determine exactly how high this team flies. If he puts together a full season like last night, it can probably fly pretty high.