LeBron James was not a happy man after the Los Angeles Lakers lost 115-103 to the Detroit Pistons and got mad at a reporter postgame. James didn’t take too kindly to a reporter asking about the impact of Anthony Davis’ potential absence due to injury.
Reporter: “There’s maybe more uncertainty in kind of what’s ahead of him (Davis). What’s that gonna be like for this team?”
LeBron James: “What? If AD’s out? What do you mean? How do you want me to answer a question you know the answer to.”
Reporter: “Okay. I guess how concerned are you?”
James: “I don’t know. I’m going second by second.”
Reporter: “If he’s out for a stretch-“
Anthony Davis: “He’s not out. Dunno why you asked that question.”
James: “Yeah, I don’t wanna play the ‘if’ game. We’ll go off what AD says and see how he feels over the next couple of days and go from there. But it don’t take a rocket scientist to know (the impact) if AD’s in or out. C’mon.”
(starts at 1:27 mark):
You certainly don’t have to be a genius to know that Davis’ absence would have a very negative impact on the Lakers. He is their anchor on defense and has also been their best player on offense this season.
Davis is averaging 32.6 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.7 blocks per game in 2024-25. Even with the 31-year-old playing this well, the Lakers have dropped to 4-3 on the season, and if you take him out, they’ll continue to slide down the standings.
Fortunately for the Lakers, Davis made it clear there that he isn’t expecting to miss a lot of time, if any. He injured his left ankle in the fourth quarter of this game against the Pistons but stayed in and finished with 37 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.
As for LeBron, he had 20 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists, and two steals on the night. The 20-time All-Star hasn’t had a great start to the campaign by his high standards but you’d expect him to play better as the season goes on.
Anthony Davis Spoke On His Injury
Davis was asked about the injury after the game and revealed he has been managing it for quite some time now.
“I’ll talk to my trainer and just kind of figure out what’s exactly going on,” Davis said post-game. “I’ve been managing it since this summer, honestly, and just trying to do everything before games to be on the floor. Kind of just landed directly on the spot that’s been killing me. So, we’ll figure it out.”
That’s certainly not ideal. You wonder if Davis picked up this injury while playing for Team USA in the summer. If that turns out to be the case, many will question the nine-time All-Star’s decision to play at the Olympics. I don’t blame him for wanting to suit up for his country, though.
The Lakers will play the Memphis Grizzlies next on Wednesday at 8:00 PM ET and it will be interesting to see if Davis features in that contest. That game will also conclude the Lakers’ five-game road trip and they’d want to end it on a high after going 1-3 over the first four games.
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