The 2022-23 season is nearly here, and the Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to avoid the disaster that was last season.
With a new head coach in Darvin Ham and a younger, more athletic roster, the Lakers are hoping to get back in the postseason and possibly compete for a title if all things break out. However, even with all the new additions, the team’s title hopes start and end with Anthony Davis.
Davis has endured rotten injury luck the past two years, and his absences have made it difficult for L.A. to put up many wins. Knowing that, it wasn’t surprising to hear Davis talk about his desire to play every game this season.
“For me, I want to be on the floor,” Davis said when asked about his goals for the 2022-23 season. “I want to be able to play all 82. If I’m not, I don’t want it to be injury-based why I can’t play, so that’s my goal. I know the more I’m on the floor the more I can help my team. Higher chance of winning when I’m playing. I want to go out there and be able to compete every single night. By doing that, I think we give ourselves a chance to every night.”
It’s an admirable, yet lofty goal for Davis, who has yet to appear in all 82 games of a regular season in his career. The star big man seems to always pick up a nagging injury each season, but the past two campaigns have been particularly frustrating as he’s suffered injuries that have kept him out for large stretches.
Some have called for Davis to change up his offseason regimen to help prepare his body for the rigors of the regular season, yet he admitted he didn’t change his routine much this past summer. In his defense, the causes of his injuries last year involved other players so it’s hard to blame his offseason habits for them.
Regardless, the Purple and Gold will only go as far as Davis takes them so making sure he’s healthy is of the utmost priority.
Anthony Davis slips to No. 20 on ESPN’s annual NBARank
Each year, ESPN does a ranking of the top 100 players in the league. It’s a fun list for people to debate and argue about, but it was surprising for Lakers fans to see Davis slip all the way down to No. 20 this year after finishing No. 9 last year.
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