To say that Anthony Davis has failed to live up to expectations after the Los Angeles Lakers won the 2020 NBA championship might be an understatement. AD seemed to have ascended to another level after that postseason run during which he averaged nearly 28 points per game but it has been all downhill since then.
Many expected Davis to take over as the best player on the Lakers the following season but he hasn’t even come close. Injuries have played a part, of course, but AD’s scoring averages the last two seasons have been the lowest since his first two seasons in the league. New coach Darvin Ham stated that the Lakers need Davis to be consistent and healthy as he is key to their success and he might not be all that happy after AD recently revealed that he hasn’t shot a basketball in a while.
Anthony Davis: "I haven't shot a basketball since probably April 5th." pic.twitter.com/5V7hzptXf8
— 𝘾𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙎𝙝𝙪𝙗𝙝 ⁶𓅓 (@OVOLakeShow) June 12, 2022
While it is understandable to take it easy during the offseason, you’d think AD would want to put some work in early on to get a headstart after two lackluster seasons. By his own admission here, it has been over two months at this point and he had plenty of free time on his hands this season too, after playing just 40 games.
You somehow get the sense that Davis seems content after winning that championship in 2020 but the Lakers will hope that is not the case. They had mortgaged their future to land Davis in that blockbuster trade with the hopes that he’d be the next great Laker big man who will lead another era of sustained success, but instead, they’re having to rely on a 37-year-old LeBron James to even stay afloat. They got a championship out of that trade so you can’t look back and say it was a mistake but if Davis doesn’t return to the form he showed early on for the Lakers, then a few regrets might pop up the rest of the way.
