Lakers News: Survey Reveals League GMs Still Fear LeBron James

...But seem to disrespect a recent NBA Finals James competitor.

In a new survey of NBA GMs compiled by John Schuhmann of NBA.com, it appears that Los Angeles Lakers All-Star small forward LeBron James is still considered one of the best players at his position heading into the 2023-24 season.

The survey yielded a weird response.

Boston Celtics All-NBA forward Jayson was ranked as the first-best small forward in the league, receiving 47% of available votes. Oft-injured Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant, who generally plays power forward these days and gets hurt in the lay-up line, came in second with 20% of the vote. Dallas Mavericks wing Luka Doncic, who is the team's lead guard and rarely plays small forward, came in third with 17% of the vote. James, ahead of his 21st season, placed fourth with 13% of votes. Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, who can't survive a playoff series healthy, placed fifth with 3% of the available votes.

Last year, Durant was considered far and away the best player at the position, netting 45% of fan votes.

James' ranking seems relatively reasonable, outside of perhaps the Doncic inclusion, but the curious thing is that All-NBA Miami Heat small forward Jimmy Butler, who led his team to its second NBA Finals appearance in four seasons (and third Eastern Conference Finals), didn't even net a mention, even though he is at this point in his career clearly better and more available than Leonard or James, while Doncic doesn't even really play the position. Butler also has beaten Tatum, straight-up, in two of their last three Eastern Conference Finals matchups, despite Tatum's Celtics being the higher seed during both Heat series wins.

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