Kendrick Perkins is not holding back on Anthony Davis. On ESPN, the former center ripped Davis for showing up out of shape, arguing that it sends the wrong message to rookie Cooper Flagg and the rest of the Mavericks after Dallas traded Luka Doncic to make him the face of the franchise.
“You have a rookie in Cooper Flagg, who is your number one pick that’s coming in, and what kind of example is that to show him?” Perkins said. “Two, you are in a tough Western Conference that’s loaded. Three, you was traded for an international superstar, and you are that guy on this team right now, you need to come into camp in shape.”
Davis, 32, was traded from the Lakers in February in the blockbuster trade for Luka Doncic. Like everyone else, he was shocked by the deal and never saw it coming. For five and a half seasons, he was proud to be a Laker and was hoping to win another championship before his decline.
Obviously, he’ll never get the chance to see things through in Los Angeles but he’s been given an opportunity to start over on a brand new team. With career averages of 24.1 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game, Davis is leading the way for the Mavericks this season and he’ll have a lot of support in the form of Klay Thompson, Cooper Flagg, and Kyrie Irving (when he returns). The only thing holding him back now is his durability.
So when Davis showed up to Mavericks training camp out of shape, it raised some eyebrows across the league. The NBA champion is reportedly 15 pounds heavier than he was last year, which does not bode well for his odds to stay healthy for a prolonged period of time. With an extensive injury history, Davis’ body hasn’t held up historically and critics insist that the added weight will only make his problem worse.
It’s not an ideal start for the Mavericks, especially since they traded Luka for being out of shape. If their new star big man is going down a similar path, what does it say about their current trajectory? The good news is, Anthony Davis is not concerned at all and says his current condition is intentional. We’ll see soon enough how true that is.
In many ways, everything in Dallas hinges on Davis. He’s shown before that he can be a top-five player in the NBA, especially defensively. If the Mavericks can tap into that, it could be the key to elevating their position in the West. If not, it will make them look foolish for giving up Luka. Ultimately, there’s only one way for Davis to shut down the critics, and that’s by showing up and playing his role.
For better or worse, the Mavericks are betting everything on Anthony Davis, and that makes his conditioning a bigger deal than ever. He’s shown he can be a top-five player when he’s locked in, and Dallas needs that version of him to justify moving on from Luka. If he proves the critics wrong and stays healthy, the Mavericks will have a real chance to climb to the top of the West. But if the weight gain becomes another setback in a career full of them, this trade could go down as one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history.
