Los Angeles Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis were not highly regarded in The Ringer’s preseason NBA player rankings.

The site ranks Davis as the NBA’s No. 11 player for the next season, with James coming in at No. 12.

Guard Austin Reaves of the Los Angeles Lakers placed 60th.

James and Davis are regularly mentioned among the league’s top 10, but The Ringer claims they are currently on the outside looking in.

Finding out they made the list might serve only to motivate these all-star veterans for the upcoming 2023-24 campaign. After reaching the 2023 Western Conference Finals, the Lakers have their share of fans who believe in them, but they can also find plenty of bulletin board fodder if they so want.

While this will be Davis’ 12th season in the NBA, it will be James’ 21st. Both players showed great promise while healthy last year, but they were out for significant chunks of the season.

The Lakers need James and Davis to be on the court as much as possible in 2023-24, so concerns about their availability continue to be discussed. While Davis played in 56 games during the 2022-23 season, James only made 55 appearances.

Each player contributed to the Lakers’ run to the Western Conference Finals by being available for every game.

The Lakers’ 2023-24 season opener is rapidly approaching, with less than a week to go. It’s a rematch with the Denver Nuggets from the playoffs, and they’ll be playing on the road.

It’s possible that both James and Davis will undergo minor evolutions in the upcoming season. As a result of Los Angeles’ offseason acquisitions, the former is likely to see a change in his minutes and workload, while the latter may get more time at the 4 position.

The Western Conference is known to be deep in contenders, but the Lakers appear to have enough skill to be included in such discussions. If James and Davis start the upcoming season like they did the last one, they will be among the best players in the league.