Anthony Davis has caught a lot of flak for his inability to be healthy enough to have a proper impact for the Lakers over the last 2 seasons. AD has suffered from various injuries throughout his career, so this isn’t something new for the big man, but considering that he hasn’t played more than 62 games in the last 4 seasons, the noise around him has gotten much louder.
Davis still has those that believe in his abilities when he’s healthy though. Speaking on First Take on Tuesday, Stephen A. Smith suggested that he is still a Top 7 player in the league when he’s fully fit and firing, going so far as to say that he would take Davis over Luka Doncic and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic. The take was met with a fair bit of ridicule, although some agreed with SAS as well.
However, former NBA champion Ron Harper thought that the premise of the argument was faulty in itself, responding to a tweet with Smith’s take suggesting that AD can’t play more than 60 games in a season.
We all know that he’s not playing more the 62 games a season so take the other players…
— Ron Harper (@HARPER04_5) June 14, 2022
“We all know that he’s not playing more the 62 games a season so take the other players…”
Davis has never played all 82 games in an NBA regular season in his career, he has cracked 70 just twice. Despite his amazing abilities, Davis has always been considered a little fragile, something that is an issue for the Lakers considering that LeBron James won’t be at the same level or indeed, on the team, forever.
AD will be one of the players with the most to prove next season, and the hope will be that he can answer his critics by staying healthy and getting back to his best. This is a tall ask for a player that hasn’t even shot the basketball much recently, but he has all the tools necessary to do it.
