Anthony Davis is going to be the reason for the Los Angeles Lakers either being a competitive playoff team or not. AD was supposed to be a generational player who could lead a franchise, but we haven’t seen that aspect of AD yet, who is decidedly No. 2 on the Lakers behind LeBron James. The team will play through AD this season according to LeBron and Darvin Ham, which means the torch can finally be passed.
The Lakers have had 2 very tough seasons after injuries saw both LeBron and AD miss time in both years, with Davis missing heavy chunks of games in both years. He has finally commented on how it felt to win a championship and fall to such lows already.
“We just gotta stay even keel”
Hear more from Anthony Davis on the Lakers Season Preview Show streaming now!https://t.co/1k52IZ5rsi @DarthAmin | @Lakers pic.twitter.com/CF7If1wVjb
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) October 15, 2022
“Coming off the championship season, I don’t wanna say we were high, but it was my first time winning a championship at this level, and it is a different feeling. With COVID as well, you don’t get your parade, you gotta find ways to celebrate. Then we come into a season and injuries started to happen. Following season, the same thing. For me, I try not to get too high or too low. I kind of knew that, but it really went into effect the last 2 years. When you have great season, you don’t want to come into the next year really high. You wanna be even keel. When you have a tough season, like the last 2, you don’t wanna get down and be tough on yourself… Nobody’s going to feel sorry for you. As an organization and a team, we learned that. We have to stay even keel and focus on winning games, even if we win the championship or not.”
Davis clearly understands the pressure he is under and will hope injuries don’t wreck his and the Lakers’ season for a third consecutive season.
Is Anthony Davis Capable Of Leading The Lakers?
From a talent perspective, there is no reason AD isn’t the man in LA already. He could have the best veteran second option in league history with LeBron James, but he has yet to take a role in which he can just feed off LeBron and dominate. We saw flashes of this in 2019-20, with AD averaging more points than LeBron as LBJ went on to average 10+ assists that season.
If he is confident in his ability to stay healthy, AD will definitely push to be the Lakers’ No. 1 option on a nightly basis. His athletic prime is about to be over, so it is now or never for Davis, who is a 10+ year veteran in the NBA already.
The Lakers are already wondering whether AD is capable of being a franchise player for their team based on his injury history. Davis is fighting for his long-term future in the league and will hope that he can stay on top of his game this season.
