LeBron James says he’s still not used to Anthony Davis ‘being on the other side’

Anthony Davis squared off against his former team on Wednesday when the Mavs hosted the Lakers in a matchup that even LeBron James feels weird about.

Lost in the madness and emotion of Wednesday’s win over the Mavs for the Lakers was that, on top of it being the first time Luka Dončić returned to Dallas, it was also the first time Anthony Davis took on the Lakers.

When the two sides met earlier this season post-trade deadline, AD was out with injury and didn’t take part. Wednesday, then, offered the first chance for the Lakers to play against Davis since 2019.

And boy did it feel weird.

As much as Lakers fans might have gotten used to Luka in a Lakers jersey, seeing Davis not in purple and gold still feels odd. And seeing him matched up against the purple and gold felt even worse.

The fans weren’t alone in that feeling, either. After the game, LeBron spoke about going up against someone he has repeatedly called his brother for the first time in over six years.

“Different. Different,” LeBron said. “Obviously, we had our own emotions built into it. So, it was just different. I think that was the first time we played [against each other] since ‘19 when he was in New Orleans…It’s just different man. I ain’t got comfortable yet with him being on the other side.”

Just as there are waves when you remember Luka is a Laker, there are still waves where you also remember Davis is not. Fortunately, the Lakers coaching staff did not need to be reminded of that as they put together a terrific gameplan to defend him.

The suddenness of how everything happened is something that will take a long time to get over. But it is nice to know that the Lakers and LeBron himself is grappling with this just as the fans are.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.