Following the Los Angeles Lakers’ Opening Night loss to the Denver Nuggets, the player under the most scrutiny was big man Anthony Davis. After scoring 17 points in the first half, Davis went scoreless in the final two quarters as the Lakers struggled to stay afloat any time LeBron James went to the bench.
Going in to the Lakers’ home opener against the Phoenix Suns, all eyes were once again on Davis to see how he would respond and he came through in a big way. Davis finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and three steals in the Lakers’ 100-95 win over the Suns. Of the 30, 19 of those points came in the second half and 13 in the fourth as he and LeBron combined for 23 of the Lakers’ 28 points in the final quarter.
It was the response many hoped to see from Davis after all the criticism he faced, but LeBron had no time for anything of that nature. In his interview with TNT following the Lakers’ win, James had some choice words and insisted that the Lakers care nothing about criticism of Davis, via Awful Announcing:
"We don't give a shit about criticism about [Anthony Davis]. We don't care. Nothing bothers us. AD doesn't care. I don't know if guys have figured that out. AD does not care. He's not on social media. So he doesn't see (that crap)… We don't give a shit about it."- LeBron James pic.twitter.com/c3yCtgsBUq
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 27, 2023
Even though some of the criticism of Davis might be valid at times, this is certainly the right mindset for he, LeBron and the Lakers to take. That can be difficult considering the amount of coverage and attention the Lakers as a whole get, but the team can not afford to focus on the outside noise.
Davis’ talent has never been in question, but his inconsistency has been frustrating at times. At his best, he has shown he can lead this Lakers team to victories and with LeBron in his 21st year, many want to see him do that and take over on a daily basis.
But this Lakers team is focused solely on themselves and getting better every day. With LeBron and Davis at the forefront, they have championship aspirations and none of the comments or criticism are going to seep into this locker room to cause any doubts.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham wants Anthony Davis to be more aggressive offensively
While the Lakers could care less about the outside criticism, they know that there are things they need to work on and improve. Head coach Darvin Ham spoke about his desire for Davis to be more aggressive offensively after the team’s season opener.
The Lakers coach said the desire is for Davis to be ‘all-out aggressive’ and noted that he and the coaching staff must move him around and get him the ball in different positions. Someone as skilled as Davis can operate from anywhere and the Lakers plan to take advantage of that, as they did against the Suns.
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