Anthony Davis has been an official member of the Los Angeles Lakers for over four months now since his trade was finalized in early July.
However, like many other new players, it takes a while for the weight of being a Laker to truly be comprehended.
Davis has been dominant for the Lakers to begin this season and on some nights, it doesn’t even feel like he’s playing his best basketball. Despite that, he’s averaging 25.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.9 blocks per game. He’s also a current frontrunner to win the 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.
For Davis, the moment when he finally realized he was a Laker came just recently while sitting at a timeout during a Lakers home game. In fact, the moment struck such a cord, he had to ask Quinn Cook if it was all real, according to Jarrel Harris of Sports Illustrated:
That is crazy that you asked that because I was at the arena yesterday and during the game, during one of the timeouts it happened and I was just looking around and I have always been playing so I never really had a chance to really take it all in. So the timeout was going on and I am looking around the arena and the Staples Center, I am looking at the banners and everything and I told one of my teammates, Quinn Cook, I tapped him during the huddle while coach was talking and I said ‘Man this is crazy, it just hit me that I am a Laker.” He was like for real? I was like yeah it just hit me that I am a Laker. So that happened last night [laughs].
Davis is currently a top-two player on one of the most famous and historic franchises in all of sports and will be legitimately competing for a championship when the 2019-20 NBA season ends. There will likely be a lot of moments like this for Davis in the purple and gold, especially if he ends up re-signing in 2019 NBA free agency.
This moment that Davis experienced is a moment that very few other sports franchises can get out of their players. In the NBA, moments like this are almost exclusively reserved for the Lakers, Boston Celtics, and New York Knicks at one point.
Davis and the Lakers appear to be a perfect match so far, and it will be exciting to see where the pair can go in their time together.