Did LeBron James prefer Kyle Kuzma over Anthony Davis, or is the All-NBA big man just an amazing volume iso scorer? NBA Reddit discusses LeBron’s eye-popping assist stats

LeBron James has made nearly 10,000 assists in his career and you can see who were his favorite guys to go to. The top Laker on this list is not Anthony Davis.

Although Kyle Kuzma spent three seasons with LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers, and Anthony Davis is on his third season you would think LeBron made more plays for AD than Kuz. But you would be totally wrong.

Kuzma was traded to the Washington Wizards in the off-season as a part of the Russell Westbrook deal. And is thriving in his new team. But the former Lakers star was struggling last two seasons for minutes at the Staples Center. As both he and AD generally prefer to play in a power forward position, also Kuzma was seen as a third option and was used more with the bench unit.

Obviously, the 2017 draft pick would be preferred behind Anthony Davis as a scorer, but that didn’t mean that LeBron wouldn’t make plays for the 6’9 forward. As much as the bad relationship of Bron and Kuzma was talked about in the media during their stay with the Lakers, it wasn’t that bad after all. Was it?

Also read: NBA executives go off on the purple and gold for separating LeBron James from Caruso

LeBron James has assisted more to Kyle Kuzma than Anthony Davis

You must be thinking how is that even possible? Did we count all the crazy lobs LeBron has been throwing? So, here is the stat that shows who LeBron James made his 9,738 assists to. This Reddit user went all the way back till 2003 to collect every assist data of the 4-time NBA champ. Some hard-core work!

Now you’d think that Kuzma played a year more than AD and had plenty of game time in his 1^st year with the King. The Lakers team also had Brandon Ingram then, another offensive killer, who also averaged above 18 points like Kuz in their first year with Bron.

You’re right with the analogy if you thought LeBron preferred Kuz over Ingram. He just made Ingram 43 passes in the 34 games they played together. So, out of his 8.3 assists a game he made just 1.2 assists per game to the 2020 All-Star. A bulk of LeBron’s passes to Kuzma came in the first year they played together.

Also read: Lance Stephenson breaks down how he felt about defending the Lakers superstar

We can now clearly see why Brandon Ingram went away and Kuzma got to stay and win a title with the King. Also, could anyone see Kyrie Irving in the top-10? Well, that’s a topic for another discussion.

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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