Anthony Davis has more to prove next season than at any point prior in his career. Many would argue AD was under the most pressure in 2020 after forcing his way out of the Pelicans to compete for a championship with the Lakers. While the championship was secured, the Lakers haven’t looked close to contention since.
One of the biggest reasons for that has been the unavailability and inconsistency that Anthony Davis has shown. LeBron James averaged 30 points per game this season but was left helpless without Davis. After their early elimination in the regular season, Davis decided to keep his mind off basketball.
In the last week, Davis stated he hadn’t shot a basketball since April 5, which generated heaps of controversy, with analysts and fans attacking AD for a lack of commitment to the game. It seems AD has responded to them by walking the walk instead of talking it, training with shooting coach Lethal Shooter.
https://twitter.com/LethalShooter__/status/1536899803077939201
Davis probably had a schedule in mind since April, as many players do take time off basketball after a season ends. The priority for AD was to get his body to stay available through the season instead of working on his skills.
A fair argument is that Davis can still try to take an hour out of his day to just do some rudimentary shooting after the horrible season the Lakers had. Even though AD couldn’t play chunks of the season, when he was on the court, he shot very poorly.
Hopefully, the talented big-man is putting work into his game as the window of his ‘potential’ in the league is quickly closing in on him. He is in his prime at the age of 29 and needs to take the leap into being the Lakers’ primary option ahead of the soon-to-be 38-year-old LeBron James.
