Anthony Davis: 'I'm The Best In The World', Also Praises Durant, Kawhi

LeBron James will again start the season as the No.1 star of the Los Angeles Lakers but he will have Anthony Davis as his No.2. The pecking order is based on past history in the league where the former has won three NBA championships while the former New Orleans Pelicans power forward joined the Lakers with the hope of challenging for his first Larry O’Brien trophy.

The Lakers gave up three players from their young core and their No.3 overall pick from the 2019 draft to win the race for Davis and they are hoping he will remain a Laker for the foreseeable future. The power forward will enter free agency next summer but the Lakers are among the teams he is willing to commit his long-term future.

Davis, who came third in the race for the 2017-18 regular season MVP, is not willing to take a back seat to any player in the league and made it clear that he considers himself the best basketball player in the world at the moment. He admits that the likes of James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard are on the same level and believes that is what makes the game fun.

"I’m the best in the world. I think I do a lot of things that a lot of players can’t do as far as playing a complete game. I can play on the block, play on the perimeter, play defense on both ends, switch 1-5, guard, score the basketball. I want to be the most dominant player in the game, and I’m going to continue to do that,” Davis told Alaa Abdeldaiem of Sports Illustrated, as quoted on 247 Sports.

“Obviously you have players like Kawhi, KD, LeBron, Steph all of those guys who are the same way. They’re great players, talented players, Hall of Famers, and that’s what makes our game fun. Everyone wants to be the best in the league. Everyone wants to be the most dominant, and that’s when our competitive edge comes out on the floor and makes the game so fun to watch,” the Lakers power forward added.

The widespread consensus within the NBA would not consider Davis as the best in the NBA at the moment but there is no doubt that the 26-year-old power forward has the ability to dominate the league in the years to come. He was averaging 29.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.6 blocks per game last season prior to his trade request, after which his game time was drastically reduced.