Will Anthony Davis Ever Again Be The Player He Once Was or Supposed To Be?
Two years ago Anthony Davis helped the Lakers win a championship in the famous bubble year in 2020 alongside NBA megastar Lebron James. Davis happened to be the teams leading scorer in the regular season and in every round leading up to the finals. Davis averaged 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks in the regular season, and in the playoffs, he averaged 27.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. Although Lebron won MVP after the lakers defeated the Miami Heat in the finals after averaging 30 points on 59% from the field and 42% from three along with 12 rebounds per game, Anthony Davis did not disappoint. In the finals, the big man averaged 25 points on 57% from the field and 42% from three and shot an insane 93% from the free-throw line converting 30 out of 32 free throws in the series. Davis also pulled down 11 rebounds per game and was the anchor to the Laker’s defense as he averaged 1.3 steals and 2 blocks per game in the finals.
With all of this said it's all been downhill ever since that 2020 season for Anthony Davis. In the 2021 NBA season, the Lakers were looking to repeat as NBA champions however, Davis would miss half of the regular season with an injury he suffered in a game against the Denver Nuggets. Anthony Davis made his return late in the season before the playoffs but since Lebron also got injured the Lakers would only grab the 7th seed in the West before being bounced out of the first round by the Phoenix Suns. This was largely due to Anthony Davis being hurt for games 4 5 and 6 as he would suffer a groin injury that would sideline him for the remainder of the series.
With Lebron entering this most recent NBA season at 36 going on 37 years old, it was expected that Anthony Davis would make the leap and take over as the number one option even with the addition of Russell Westbrook in the offseason. Then in the 2022 season, the Lakers but most notably Anthony Davis would go on to disappoint every NBA fan who tabbed them as favorites to win it all. Davis would go on to miss 42 games in the regular season as the Lakers would miss the play-in tournament, as they finished with the 11th seed in the West. Anthony Davis in particular failed to meet the expectations set on him to be the number one guy as when he was available he only averaged 23.2 points per game on 53.2% from the field but outside of the paint he was terrible. Davis shot a poor 39% from the midrange area, a horrendous 18.6% from three, 36.6% on pull-up jump shots, 38.2% on stepback jump shots, and 37% on fadeaway jump shots. In addition, he shot a career-low from the free-throw line at 71.3% which is down from two years ago when he shot 85% from the line and his career average of just below 80%. In short Anthony Davis, this season was a massive disappointment when you consider the expectations set for him at the beginning of this season. Many people who thought that the bubble run by the Lakers was flukey are making a lot of noise now considering what has happened since that legendary season.
Despite the last two seasons showing all the red flags that Anthony Davis showed he still has time to prove that when healthy he is still one of the best players in the NBA. Even though Davis is a relatively injury-prone player if he focuses on getting in the proper shape to where he can stay healthy while maintaining the utilities that helped the Lakers win a title two years ago, Davis will show everyone that he is that guy he was before. Many people believe that Davis has declined or lost a step in his game after the injuries but let's wait until next season to see if that really is the case. His teammate Lebron James posted on his Instagram page quoting “Get It Twisted if you want to! I'm [sic] due time he'll remind you once again why he's HIM!!! And I can't wait for it to be unleashed!”. In the end, it will come down to if Anthony Davis himself wants it bad enough and is willing to put in the work to be the same if not better than he was before.