“LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook can be productive without the ball”: Kenny Smith questions whether Kevin Durant’s Nets Big 3 can mesh as well as the Lakers’ Big 3

Kenny Smith says that while LeBron James and Anthony Davis can thrive off the ball, James Harden, Kyrie and Kevin Durant need the ball to be great.

The Los Angeles Lakers have put together another Big 3 reminiscent of their Showtime and 70s teams. Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain formed the first superteam in league history via unrestricted free agency.

Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy continued this tradition all through the 80s. The Lakers then faced a lull in signing free agents before acquiring Shaquille O’Neal in free agency in 1996.

The Shaq and Kobe teams won’t be remembered as superteams because they only had 2 All-Stars. Nor will Kobe’s teams in the latter half of his career, for that matter.

Also Read – “LeBron James’ most astounding achievement is making so many Finals”: Kenny Smith highlights Lakers star’s durability, contrasts Michael Jordan with LeBron in terms of minutes played in their prime

Now that Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and LeBron James are together on the same team, it’s the first time in a long time that the Lakers have 3 players capable of making the All-NBA First Team and MVP noise when fit and firing.

“LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook can be productive without the ball”: Kenny Smith

Kenny Smith was questioned by Mike Greenberg in his recent radio appearance regarding how the Lakers’ newest Big 3 contrasts with that of the Brooklyn Nets Big 3.

Kenny took a rather conservative approach to answer the question. However, he may have angered a few Brooklyn Nets fans with the wording of his answer:

“Well, neither one of them (trios) we’ve seen play. To be really fair about it, when Brooklyn played their best basketball, one of those guys was always out last year. And when they were all together, we never really got a chance to see it.”

“The one thing that I would probably say is that the Lakers would probably just naturally play better easily. Because Anthony Davis doesn’t need to handle the basketball to be productive.”

Also Read – “It’s only one Superman now and that’s Giannis Antentokounmpo”: Shaquille O’Neal reveals the reasons behind passing his name to the Greek Freak

“Russell Westbrook can pass and assist and rebound to be productive. LeBron doesn’t need the basketball to be productive. I think that when the Nets are at their best, their best players score.”

“So with one basketball, I would say it would be easier for the Lakers to adjust, to play better together. Will they? I don’t know, because we haven’t seen it. But I would say it’s easier for the Lakers.”