With Anthony Davis injured, the Lakers' season now rests on Year 20 LeBron James recapturing his youth

LeBron James will now have to lift the Lakers alone

It was often said early in his career that LeBron James could lead virtually any supporting cast to 50 wins. The data backed up that assertion. He won 66 games with Mo Williams as his best teammate, after all. He reached the NBA Finals with Larry Hughes as his highest-scoring teammate and were it not for J.R. Smith, might have won a road Finals game against the greatest roster ever assembled with only a single teammate (Kevin Love) scoring in double figures. LeBron's bad-team credentials are certified.

But King James has largely ceded his throne this season to perhaps his first-ever superior teammate. When the Lakers started 2-10, it was Anthony Davis that lifted them back into the playoff race. He has outscored, out-rebounded and out-blocked James thus far this season, and he's done so on significantly more efficient shooting. The Lakers have been 11 points stronger per 100 possessions with Davis on the floor than without him, finally grabbing the plus-minus torch from James after years of disappointing bench lineups played a part in producing the Russell Westbrook trade.

That 11-point net rating differential is illustrative of the team's shifting priorities. This is no longer a James-centric offense. The game runs through Anthony Davis now. Or at least, it did. Davis is expected to miss at least a month with a right foot injury. His history suggests that it could be longer. And suddenly, James, the rising tide that has spent two decades raising all ships, is back in his usual position atop the pecking order.