This season, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are both eligible for postseason awards because they have both reached the 65-game criteria.
When the NBA revealed last season that postseason awards would now need 65 games played, Lakers fans may have raised a few eyebrows. Neither LeBron James nor Anthony Davis had participated in 65 games for the Lakers in a single season up until that moment.
However, while wearing the purple and gold, both players have had their best run of health this season. LeBron played in his 65th game on Friday against the Pacers, having played in 64 regular season games and one In-Season Tournament (IST) final. AD had reached that milestone weeks before.
Both are now qualified for postseason honors as a result.
With 69 games played this season, AD has played more than any other player since his 2017–18 campaign. Similarly, LeBron will probably play more games this season than he did in his second season with the Lakers, where he played 67.
Given their availability and the outstanding seasons they have both produced, it is possible that they will both win honors this season. While AD is enjoying his most dominant and consistently influential season in Los Angeles, LeBron is likely having the most productive scoring season of his Lakers career.
Although he is undoubtedly the underdog in the contest for defensive player of the year, Davis will nonetheless be taken into consideration. Nevertheless, his outstanding play there will, at the absolute least, secure him a position on the All-Defense team.
It’s expected that both players will be selected to All-NBA squads. Since the 2019–20 season, Davis has only been named to the All-NBA team four times and hasn’t earned a berth on the list of the league’s finest players.
As one might anticipate, LeBron has been a constant on those teams. His debut season was the only one in his career where he wasn’t selected to an All-NBA squad.
Either one of the two players would probably be in the running for MVP if the Lakers had been more reliable or had carried over their IST form into the regular season. And following the Lakers’ triumph over the Pacers, LeBron was crowned MVP of the IST.
Although 65 games is a rather arbitrary total, for the Lakers it represents the finest form that LeBron and AD have had as a team, which should instill hope in supporters for their chances of making it to the postseason.