Anthony Davis is a fantastic big man when he’s healthy. He is a versatile offensive big man, capable of dominating in the post but also scoring on the perimeter. Defensively, he is an elite rim protector that can also guard multiple positions. There’s no questioning Anthony Davis’ talent.
One of the more valid question marks about Anthony Davis, however, is his durability. Over the course of his career, Anthony Davis has frequently dealt with injuries that have kept him out of games. In fact, Charles Barkley once gave Anthony Davis the nickname “Street Clothes” which is obviously pointing out the fact that Anthony Davis is often on the bench wearing regular clothing.
“Lakers can’t win this series without ‘Street Clothes’. I call him Anthony ‘Street Clothes’ Davis because he’s always in street clothes,” Barkley jokingly said on NBA on TNT.
Anthony Davis responded to Charles Barkley calling him “Street Clothes”, implying that Charles Barkley was saying that “for ratings”, and that he has to “bring in viewers”. Davis also stated that he doesn’t care about Charles Barkley’s opinion. Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times relayed the news.
When Barkley’s comments were relayed to Davis, his jaw tightened and his smile disappeared. Barkley’s criticism clearly stung Davis.
“I don’t care what he says,” Davis said. “People say stuff for ratings. Like, they got to push their show, push their blog, push their podcast, whatever it is. So, people got to say something to bring in viewers. It is what it is. I go out there and play basketball and let them do their job. My job is to hoop. Their job is to talk about me.”
There is no doubt that analysts can at times give out opinions designed to cause controversy and get fan engagement. It is clear that Anthony Davis wasn’t happy with Charles Barkley’s comments, and perhaps we’ll see him prove Barkley wrong this year.
Anthony Davis Wants To Play All 82 Games
This season, Anthony Davis will have the opportunity to show people like Charles Barkley they are wrong about his durability by being available for all of the Los Angeles Lakers games. In fact, Davis claimed that his goal is to play as many games as he can out of the 82 regular season games for the Lakers.
“Honestly, just the past couple of seasons I’ve had, for me, it’s not been good years. My personal goal is, one, to play as much as I can out of the 82 [games], and two, to get back to the level of basketball I know I’m capable of playing, which is being elite and dominant… If I do that, the rest takes care of itself. Whatever happens, happens. I’d rather have a championship. My personal goal is to be on the floor for every game and get back to being the dominant basketball player I know I am capable of being.
Hopefully, we see Anthony Davis get back to being the dominant big man that he can be. He definitely has the talent of a superstar, and the only thing keeping him from currently being a top-10 player is his health.
The Los Angeles Lakers will need Anthony Davis to be consistently available if they are to get back to the playoffs this season. Perhaps we’ll see Anthony Davis finally have a healthy season, and he is clearly ready to show out for the team.
