Perhaps the great LeBron James, whom we all admire and respect, will statistically dominate in January and February much as he did in December. It is possible, in theory. James, with precious little support around him and expertly handling small-ball center duties, averaged 30.7 PPG, 9.3 RPG and 6.5 APG on 36.7 MPG in December, shooting 55% on field goals, 40% on 3-pointers and 78% from the free throw line. (Last year he shot 36% on 3-pointers and 69% from the line.) Nobody ranked even close to him on the ESPN Player Rater in December or supplied better numbers in points formats.
James achieved much of this sans his top-10 fantasy teammate Anthony Davis, who sprained an MCL in his knee a few weeks ago. In fact, James almost has to play at this level or the Los Angeles Lakers, as currently constructed in their flawed manner, will be a lottery team. They might be one anyway! Which other Los Angeles Lakers will help James? Turnover machine Russell Westbrook? Whoops, there goes another 25-foot brick. Malik Monk? Davis himself?