Kevin Garnett Gives Lakers’ LeBron James His ‘Flowers,’ Again Drags Anthony Davis

The Hall of Fame forward had plenty of thoughts on Los Angeles's team dynamic so far this season.
Kevin Garnett Gives Lakers’ LeBron James His ‘Flowers,’ Again Drags Anthony Davis
Kevin Garnett Gives Lakers’ LeBron James His ‘Flowers,’ Again Drags Anthony Davis /

Lakers forward LeBron James is 15 games into his age-39 season, but virtually all of his numbers have remained in the neighborhood of his career marks: 25.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game.

It's been necessary for Los Angeles, which is still finding its footing in a crowded Western Conference playoff field. The Lakers are currently 9-7, occupiers of their conference's first play-in slot and three games behind the first-place Timberwolves.

In a discussion with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on his eponymous show, Hall of Fame forward Kevin Garnett ladled out praise for his former rival.

“It’s still LeBron’s team,” Garnett said on the Stephen A. Smith Show. “He looks bouncier than (forward Anthony Davis). He looks younger."

Before praising James, Garnett criticized Davis for failing to keep pace with his elder teammate. Davis is averaging 21.5 points per game in 2024, a 10-year personal low even amid the second-highest-scoring season of this century.

"Anthony Davis probably thinks he's doing the best he can. He probably thinks, 'Hey, I'm giving 100% to this,'" Garnett said. "Anthony Davis probably thinks, 'Man, I just had 35 and 15 with two blocks. That was a crazy night.'... We're talking about the comparisons of an older man and being able to give this thing over to another superstar."


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .