Lakers News: Anthony Davis Could Overtake LeBron James as All-Star Starter This Year

It would be a major changing of the guard for Los Angeles.

Dec 19, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Anthony Davis (3) dribbles the ball next to forward LeBron James (23) against the Sacramento Kings in the first quarter at the Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images / Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

Five-time All-NBA Los Angeles Lakers power forward/center Anthony Davis finds himself in an interesting position, with the first wave of 2024-25 NBA All-Star Game fan voting results now out, per Shams Charania of ESPN.

Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo are leading the NBA’s first 2024-25 All-Star fan voting returns: pic.twitter.com/eQeU60l673

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 2, 2025

The 6-foot-10 Kentucky product finds himself ranked fourth in voting among Western Conference frontcourt players with 999,540 votes, behind a triumvirate of former league MVPs in Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (1,422,121 votes), Phoenix Suns power forward Kevin Durant (1,268,799 votes), and Davis' Lakers teammate LeBron James (1,167,661 votes).

This is a fairly low result for James, who's typically among the top two vote recipients in any given year. This season, he's fifth. But at 40, the 20-time All-Star has finally taken a step back on offense, although he's still scoring pretty efficiently and frequently as the second-best player on the 18-14 Lakers. Davis is roughly 168,000 votes shy of overtaking James this year.

Were that to happen, it would represent a major hierarchical changing of the guard for Los Angeles.

Read More: LeBron James in Danger of Not Being All-Star Starter for First Time Ever

Davis has started just three of his nine All-Star games (he's also missed two due to injury). James, however, has never come off the bench in an All-Star game.

This season, the 31-year-old Davis is logging stellar averages of 26.1 points on a .527/.324/.777 slash line, 11.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.3 steals a game, across 31 healthy bouts so far.

Davis is currently considered doubtful to suit up against the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night with a left ankle sprain, according to the league's most recent injury report.

Read More: Anthony Davis Downgraded Ahead of Blazers Clash with Critical Injury

The 6-foot-10 big man's only healthy, non-two-way player backup, Jaxson Hayes, seems likely to be promoted should Davis ultimately be unavailable for Los Angeles. Backup power forward Jarred Vanderbilt (right foot surgery recovery) and reserve center/power forward Christian Wood (left knee surgery recovery) are both on the shelf. Thankfully, at 11-21, the tanking Trail Blazers aren't too formidable a foe.

All of Portland's centers will be available, however, which could prove to be an issue for the still-raw Hayes. The rotation players who have been ruled out for Portland thus far are starting power forward Jerami Grant (facial contusion) and backup swingman Matisse Thybulle (right ankle sprain).

More Lakers: Dwyane Wade Calls Out Los Angeles, Wants to See More of Bronny James