The Los Angeles Lakers have received some positive news on the injury front as superstar Anthony Davis is extremely close to returning to the floor, currently being listed as probable for Tuesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets. The team has had very few games in which all three of the Davis, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook trio have shared the floor, but that should be changing soon.
Davis could very well be the key to the Lakers unlocking their true potential this season, especially on the defensive end. The big man remains one of the best and most versatile defensive players in the league and gives the Lakers a true big capable of sticking in small-ball lineups as well.
The Lakers are undoubtedly excited to get Davis back on the floor, and Westbrook believes it will change the team for the better. “I think whenever you get a player like AD back, it definitely changes your team. Not just on the offensive side, but on the defensive side,” Westbrook said.
“He’s able to do things that people can’t do at his size and definitely gives a team a boost getting a chance to see everybody out on the floor, at least hopefully as we move forward towards the tail end of the season.”
Getting a healthy team back on the floor has been something the Lakers have been unable to do for basically the entire season. Davis has been out since December and his return will require an adjustment from the rest of the Lakers to integrate him back. And Westbrook understands it will be a process and is ready for that.
“It’s the same, not one person is gonna change every aspect of what we’re doing and I think for us, it’s also gonna be an adjustment for everybody to kind of get back into the rhythm of playing with AD,” Westbrook added. “And AD as well, getting his wind back and his conditioning back, that’s gonna be a process and it’s our job to make sure we can be able to help him through that process.”
Davis is truly a game-changer when at his best and his return could be the Lakers’ best shot at finally turning things around. But that will require serious effort from everyone on the team to make this work. Thankfully the Lakers as a whole sound as if they are ready and willing to do just that.
Westbrook says it’s hard to judge how Lakers have fared without Davis
Without Davis, the Lakers were a below-.500 team, although they did have some good showings as well that showed their potential. But Westbrook believes there were too many other factors to really judge how the Lakers fared without their big man.
“It’s hard to tell because of a lot of those games, Bron missed some of them and then some other guys missed some games, so it kind of varies. That’s a difficult question to answer.”
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