Shaquille O’Neal was ruthless in his thoughts about Anthony Davis’ disappointing play, and he minced no words in calling out the Los Angeles Lakers big man.
“He has fallen off status-wise,” the former NBA champion said on his latest episode of The Big Podcast With Shaq. “I remember three years ago when we were saying he’s going to be the best player in the league. Remember that? I don’t care that he’s been injured; it doesn’t matter.”
“There are no excuses in this league,” he added. “It doesn’t matter why you fell off; you still fell off. I was in the first place when I was running, now I have a flat tire, and I’m in third, so what – I still fell off. He’s still top 10, and he’s still a great player but status-wise, I remember people saying he was the best player in the league.”
Davis has been instrumental for the Lakers this season despite his injuries. At the time of writing, he’s averaging 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists. However, his last couple of games against the Toronto Raptors and the New York Knicks hasn’t been the greatest, as he notched up 8 and 17 points, respectively.
This, in the absence of LeBron James, dents LA’s scoring, and with the side gunning for a playoff spot, the onus is on Davis to get back to form.
Anthony Davis Takes The Blame For The Lakers Loss To The Knicks
As far as accountability goes, Davis gets all the brownie points. The big man was brutally honest after the Lakers’ 112-108 loss to the Knicks and blamed himself for a poor show.
Per Jovan Buha of The Athletic, Davis put his hand up, saying, “My fault. I played terrible.”
Anthony Davis on the loss: “My fault. I played terrible.”
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) March 13, 2023
Davis was 8-of-18 from the field and 0-of-1 from beyond the arc. The bright spot, though, was the rollicking form D’Angelo Russell is in as he ended with 33 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists. However, it wasn’t enough to get the team over the line.
The Lakers will depend heavily on Davis to do the bulk of the scoring as they sweat over James’ return to the hardwood. The side is yet to reach the .500 mark this season, and as the West standings looking for a tight finish to the playoffs, the fervent hope for the team and the fans is for Davis to recapture his mojo.
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