"We've done it before": LeBron James believes he and Anthony Davis together can put the Lakers in title contention every season

LeBron James firmly believes the LA Lakers are title contenders despite the lack of moves in the ongoing free agency. The 4x NBA champion, in his interview with ESPN's Dave McMenamin, said the duo is "committed" to winning, and that they have done that before even with a roster that was built around the two.

James referred to the 2020 championship the Lakers won, and that they did it with two massive names and the perfect support cast.

When asked about contending while he's still with the franchise, the 39-year-old affirmed that the team was a bonafide contender.

"Of course. Because we've done it before. We've done it before, and we still have two guys who commit every single day with myself and AD [Anthony Davis]. We commit to excellence and commit to win. And we feel like any situation, any given year, we can put ourselves in a position to be able to succeed. And we're not that far off."

In their five seasons together, James and Davis have led the Lakers to one title and three playoff appearances. They missed the postseason in the 2021-22 season, ending with a paltry 33-49 record after injuries at various stages of the regular season saw the two heavyweights miss a substantial chunk of games.

With a new head coach JJ Redick, the Lakers will hope that LeBron James and Anthony Davis can remain healthy and play as many games as possible to give LA a fighting chance to make the playoffs and a deeper run.

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LeBron James sheds light on the marquee names the Lakers failed to sign in free agency

LeBron James believed the LA Lakers front office did their best in signing the names they had on their radar. In the same interview with McMenamin, the 4x NBA champion said it was all part of the business that sometimes could miss out on getting players they would want in their fold.

"We don't sit here and lie about or cry about it. We move on. And Klay's a great player. Obviously, DeMar's a great player. Valanciunas was one of those guys who ended up going to Washington, was someone that was in talks with us, but we move on to see how we continue to get better."

Now, the Lakers will look to see the kind of talent they can land with the space they have after LeBron James took a $2.6 million pay cut to help them avoid the second apron and the penalties that come with it.

There is still buzz that they are interested in roping in former Laker Kyle Kuzma, while Spencer Dinwiddie and Gary Trent Jr. are reported candidates as well. Only time will tell if these moves are enough to help the Lakers make a title push.