The Los Angeles Lakers have received plenty of criticism this campaign, given their inability to win games consistently. Instead, they have struggled to find their touch, and even though they have entered winning streaks, it’s been because of individual performances rather than a collective effort.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis welcomed Russell Westbrook in the summer to form a Big 3. The 2017 NBA MVP hasn’t been able to lived up to the expectations, earning a lot of bad comments for his performances. Even though he made a big impression against the Utah Jazz on Monday night, Westbrook is perceived like a bad fit for the Lakers around the league.
Many fans expected that to happen given Russ’ of play. What nobody saw coming was Anthony Davis’ downfall. The former New Orleans Pelicans big man has mightily struggled this season, unable to help LeBron James or Westbrook.
He was supposed to take over this team now that Bron is 37, while Russ would become his sidekick. Well, none of that has happened and The Brow has received criticism for his performances, too.
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett joined the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley as former players who have blamed Davis for the Lakers’ struggles. The former Boston Celtics duo recently met on SHOWTIME’s “KG Certified” to discuss a variety of topics. At some point, the 2008 NBA champions touched on the Lakers’ current form, criticizing Anthony Davis for leaving the burden to LeBron instead of carrying the team (27:51).
“I thought everything should have went through AD. I thought AD was young enough to be able to carry this team. He came to L.A. to kind of take some of the pressure off LeBron and he’s went the opposite direction,” Garnett said.
“LeBron was ready to give him [Davis] the keys. I think it’s too much on AD and too much on Bron. LeBron shouldn’t have to carry this team through the regular season. All the juice LeBron got left should be saved for the playoffs. AD should be carrying them through the regular season. He’s hurt right now, but the key to this whole thing is AD coming back dominant. If he can be dominant, then the Lakers would be scary, but if he’s going to be hurt, I don’t think the Lakers got a shot,” Pierce added.
It’s really refreshing to see two of LeBron’s old nemesis talking so highly on him. They know The King is a beast, but at this point in his career, he shouldn’t be taking the job of carrying a team through the regular season when he has more players to do that.
Anthony Davis, for starters, was underperforming before he went down with an injury. We all know Westbrook’s struggles, and the rest of the squad looks shy when it comes to take over games.
Malik Monk has shown interesting things, but that hasn’t been enough for the Purple and Gold to keep the good pace. Once Davis returns to the court, the Lakers will have a clearer picture of what will happen with their season. If he comes back in a great fashion, then things will look very promising for his team.
