It will not be long until Anthony Davis officially dons the purple and gold as the Los Angeles Lakers will soon kick off their slate of 2019 NBA preseason action.
Davis, who has been the talk around Los Angeles since being acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans, will look to anchor a team who has missed the NBA playoffs for six consecutive seasons.
The 26-year-old has so far been pleased with his teammates and praised his fellow big men in JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard.
“We been on the same team… me and JaVale or Dwight and I. I think every scrimmage and it’s the same. It’s hard to score… or JaVale and Dwight,” Davis shared.
“It’s hard to score against us in the paint, so my role doesn’t change. I don’t have to get every block now, every rebound. We have guys who can do the same thing.”
Davis also seemed particularly impressed with Howard as he looks to bounce back in the league:
“For sure. Dwight has it on his mind that he wants to help this team win and whatever that entails he’s gonna do it. He wants to have his second run in L.A. be a great one and he’s come in, he goes in the weight room and gets his treatment, then comes on the court to get his work in and practices,” Davis said.
“So, he’s been about business from Day 1 and that’s all we can ask for… for a guy to come in, get his work in, and be ready to go.”
Davis has made it no secret that he prefers to play power forward over the course of the regular season in order to preserve his body and so far, it is encouraging to hear how well he has seemingly taken to playing next to McGee and Howard. The two centers will see almost all of their minutes next to either Davis or LeBron James and will mostly be tasked with rebounding, blocking shots, and setting screens.
While Davis will still likely be asked to play center at the end of games or when teams go small, McGee and Howard are still in line for a fair amount of minutes.
Head coach Frank Vogel has already outlined that players who contribute to winning will determine how much players see the floor, so those two will need to do their jobs if they want to stick in the rotation.