Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis has been playing like one of the best players in the entire NBA for the past few weeks, but a couple negative moments at the free-throw line are undoubtedly weighing heavy on him.
Davis missed a pair of free throws with 28 seconds left against the Boston Celtics and the chance to put the Lakers up two possessions. This comes after Davis split a pair of free throws late in the Lakers’ contest against the Philadelphia 76ers with both games ultimately resulting in overtime losses.
The Lakers star big man has been understandably upset about his failures at the free throw line, but LeBron James believes that’s how Davis should feel and says a lot about his character.
“It just means he loves the game,” LeBron said about Davis being obviously distraught. “I mean, if it was the other way around and he was in there smiling then you’d be questioning what type of teammate you got. You would.
“If you go up and miss two free throws in a big game like that and come to the locker room and the guy is laughing and joking, you’d be questioning what type of teammate you’ve got, so I know who I’m rocking with every single night. I’m absolutely okay with the way he’s feeling. We got a couple days. Hopefully, he leave it here today. If not, take the car ride home and try not to take it into the house.”
James is spot on about how things would be if Davis was acting the opposite way. Players should take these kinds of losses hard, especially when they feel they had the chance to personally win the game, but LeBron continued to back his teammate.
“If there’s one guy on this ballclub that I love going to the free-throw line in the clutch, it’s AD,” LeBron added. “He’s been on the other side a lot more times than our four years together, closing out games at the free-throw line than on the other side. I’m not worried about it one bit.”
With both Davis and James playing at this high level, the Lakers have a chance to beat any team and have been right there with some of the best. Davis will come through more often than not and now will be even more motivated to ice future games when he has the chance.
Lakers’ Anthony Davis disappointed in himself after more late game missed free throws
While LeBron will continue to back his Lakers teammate, that did nothing to change Davis’ feelings in the immediate aftermath of the game after missing more free throws in a late-game situation.
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about the rest of the game,” a distraught Davis said. “If I make two free throws to go up four, it’s a different ballgame. To me, the rest doesn’t matter. I had to ice the game.”
When it was suggested that fatigue may have played a factor as Davis did not rest in the second half, Davis brushed that off as well. “I was fine,” Davis added. “That’s not an excuse to miss free throws or anything. I could’ve asked to come out but I felt good. It’s on me.”
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