Lakers' Jeanie Buss: 'There's an Argument' Anthony Davis Was NBA's Best When Healthy

Los Angeles Lakers star big man Anthony Davis is one of the most talented players in the NBA, and the only thing that has held him back in his career is his health.

Lakers owner Jeanie Buss asserted that Davis performed like the best player in the league when he was healthy last season.

"There's an argument to be made that he was the best player in the NBA when he was playing," Buss told The Athletic NBA Show.

Davis got off to a scorching start to last season, stuffing the stat sheet with dominant performances at both ends of the floor. However, he was hobbled by a foot injury during the year, missing 20 straight games at one point.

In his 56 appearances, Davis averaged 25.9 points, a career-high 12.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.0 blocks while shooting a career-best 56.3 percent from the field. However, it was his fourth season in the last five years in which he played less than 60 games.

Still, the Lakers rewarded Davis with a three-year, $186 million maximum contract extension last month that ties him to the franchise through 2028 for a total of $270 million. Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the deal was the richest annual contract extension in NBA history with an average of $62 million per year.

The Lakers had an impressive offseason in which they re-signed key players and made new additions to address last season's deficiencies. However, general manager Rob Pelinka recently told Spectrum Sportsnet that extending Davis was the team's most important move of the summer.

"What we were able to accomplish down the stretch, we wanted to improve around the edges but clearly extending Anthony Davis is at the core of that continuity," Pelinka said. "He's a pillar of the franchise and again just an exciting day for us to be able to know we can build around him for years to come."

Perhaps the 2023-24 campaign will see Davis take the reins from star forward LeBron James as the leader of the Lakers. However, it remains to be seen if the 30-year-old will be able to enjoy a healthy season.