Anthony Davis is one of the best big men in the league, capable of contributing at a high level on both ends of the floor. He is having an All-NBA caliber season with the Los Angeles Lakers thus far, averaging 25.6 PPG, 12.0 RPG, and 1.9 BPG a game. Undoubtedly, he has looked healthy this season, and Anthony Davis being dominant is a massive boost for the Los Angeles Lakers.
One of the biggest debates about Anthony Davis over the past few seasons has been what his optimal position is on the court. Many people have suggested that he should be playing the center position, despite Anthony Davis himself claiming that he prefers to play at power forward.
“Anthony Davis on how he feels about potentially starting at the 5: “I trust Coach’s decision. I mean, I’m pretty sure he heard AD wants to play the 4, so he knows where I stand, but at the end of the day, I want to win, so if that’s me playing the 5, that’s what it’s got to be.”
This season, Anthony Davis has been the starting center for the team, and obviously, he’s doing entirely fine in terms of production. However, there are definitely reasons to move him back to the power forward position.
An NBA Coach Believes The Lakers Need To Play Anthony Davis At PF With Another Big Man
An anonymous NBA coach has recently claimed that the Los Angeles Lakers need to play Anthony Davis next to another big man, suggesting that Davis currently has too much on his plate on the defensive end. Ashish Mathur of Heavy relayed the news.
Heavy.com senior insider Sean Deveney talked to an anonymous Western Conference coach about Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis. The coach told Deveney that the Lakers should start playing Davis with another big man to ease his burden.
“What you are seeing from him this year is why he has always said he does not want to play the 5,” the coach said. “He is doing a good job offensively, but there is too much put on him defensively and they’re just not as good a team with him in the middle as they are with someone else. Their problem is now, it is all or nothing. Either they put him on the floor at center and the offense works the way it is supposed to but the defense suffers, or they get him out of there and the offense is bad but the defense gets better.
“We saw what Boston did last year playing two bigs (Robert Williams and Al Horford). Players now, they’re athletic enough and smart enough to be able to guard the paint and still contest on the perimeter. I don’t see why the Lakers would not try it more. They have nothing to lose.”
There is no doubt that the coach makes a good point, and it is true that Anthony Davis can’t cover for everyone on the Lakers defensively if he is playing the center position. However, even despite that, the Los Angeles Lakers have done well with him playing center, winning their last 3 games of the season.
It remains to be seen if the Los Angeles Lakers will continue playing Anthony Davis at the center position. He has certainly done well there thus far, with some people even suggesting that the Lakers are now Anthony Davis’ team because of his performances. It is hard to see Darvin Ham changing Anthony Davis’ position when the team has been winning recently, but it could be possible later on in the season.
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