LeBron James, star of the Los Angeles Lakers, has surpassed Andre Iguodala and Udonis Haslem as the NBA’s oldest active player due to their retirements.

In the 2023-24 season, James will be entering Year 21 of his Hall of Fame career and will likely have his greatest opportunity to win a fifth championship. The King’s physical condition was excellent during preseason, suggesting he is prepared to shoulder the team’s leadership responsibilities once more.

But James has been giving up more and more control to Anthony Davis, who appears ready to become the new face of the organization. Davis, like James, had a stellar preseason and will be relied upon to be Los Angeles’ defensive and offensive focal point.

James recently sat down with Michael Corvo of ClutchPoints to talk about Davis’ development as a leader and his significance to the company:

AD is awesome, dude. Amazing AD. We have the longest tenure on this team at this point. This is my sixth year; AD’s fifth. He’s a leader on this team just as much as I am, and we share the captaincy. In terms of leadership responsibilities, I tend to focus on the team’s guards and wings while AD handles the team’s big men and vice versa.

AD is everything a franchise could desire, therefore I was overjoyed when he was given a contract extension before the season began to ensure that he will be a part of the team for the foreseeable future. He’s unquestionably one of the best big men in club history.

Davis has all the makings to become the latest in a long line of iconic big men to play for the Lakers. James would probably be fine with his star big man taking charge of the club if it meant they could win a championship with his leadership.