SO MUCH OF the NBA's history from the past two decades collides in the Los Angeles Lakers' audacious pairing of Russell Westbrook with LeBron James and Anthony Davis -- yearslong debates swirling together, the most polarizing MVP in recent memory, truisms that have hardened over time to be tested anew.
The first is one of the great James axioms: If he's the best shooter on the floor, you haven't built the right team around him. The Lakers' roster is half-constructed; they have five players, and one of them is Alfonzo McKinnie.