Anthony Davis made it to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, he’s an NBA champion, an 8-time NBA All-Star and has made the All-NBA First team 4 times. His move to the Los Angeles Lakers to play alongside LeBron James was supposed to make the Lakers contenders for years to come, but even if they have won a title together, it hasn’t been everything they expected either. There have even been reports that the Lakers could trade Davis in the offseason.
Davis has struggled with injuries his entire career, he has played more than 70 regular seasons just twice despite this being his 10th season in the league. A lot of his early seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans saw AD miss the playoffs and while it wasn’t entirely his fault, it was clear that he couldn’t single-handedly lead his team into the playoffs.
And now Bill Simmons has blasted Davis for not being able to make the playoffs for nearly half of his career. Speaking on his ‘The Bill Simmons Podcast’, the analyst compared Davis to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic, both of whom have been compared to Davis in the past but have shown the ability to consistently carry their teams into the playoffs as the first option.
“If the Lakers miss the playoffs, AD will have missed the playoffs 6/10 years. You look at the other guys who are really good in the league… Giannis is never missing the playoffs if he is healthy. Neither is Jokic. We are finding out this year it doesn’t matter who is on his team.”
The Lakers are currently the 9th seed in the Western Conference and have struggled massively throughout the year. Davis is currently missing with a mid-foot sprain and it is unclear when he will return. Even when he does, this season has raised some questions about his ability, the Lakers are 17-20 with Davis playing, a fairly abysmal record considering the level LeBron James has been playing at. If he doesn’t want his legacy to go up in flames, Davis will need to return soon and help the Lakers at least make it to the playoffs.
