The Los Angeles Lakers have finally managed to get their head above the .500 mark after a rocky start to the season. The LA side edged out the struggling Memphis Grizzlies 134-107 to climb up to the seventh spot in the Western Conference table. Anthony Davis had a great night defensively, listing 11 rebounds and six blocks to his name alongside 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting. During the post-game press conference, the veteran center clarified what prompted his strong defensive showing in what was a much-needed win for the Lakers.
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AD has been facing the heat of the media since the beginning of the season for his rather subdued presence in the Lakers’ shaky start to the season. The media narrative before the beginning of the 2023-24 campaign in October was that Davis must assume a leadership role in the team now that LeBron James is nearing his 39th birthday. However, King James showed up for the Lakers as their first option in the first few games with AD still reeling with lingering injury concerns.
However, yesterday’s performance will surely give the big man all the confidence in the world. The 30-year-old seemed sure of his role on the hardwood in the post-game presser and clarified that rivalry with opposing players like Jaren Jackson Jr. didn’t play any role in his performance on the defensive end of the floor. “Yeah, I’m gonna play the same way. It wasn’t a thing, ‘Oh, he [Jaren Jackson Jr.] got it [the Defensive Player of the Year award] last year. Let me show him up or anything like that.”
Davis clarified that his defensive output wasn’t fueled by any kind of animosity towards the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Jaren Jackson Jr. He was just focused on taking care of business and giving the Lakers some breathing space in a heavily stacked West.
Anthony Davis is focused on his role as a defender
Davis also laid out his manifesto for the remainder of the season during the press conference. “I just go and compete. Protect the rim. Tell my guys to compete on the ball and funnel all the guys towards me. I’ll take care of the rest,” he added. AD seems to be slowly finding his rhythm and taking more responsibility on the floor as the season progresses.
Lakers Head Coach Darvin Ham will be relying on Davis a lot this season to take care of business on both ends of the floors. In order to ensure that outcome, Lakers guard Austin Reaves insisted that AD stays ‘Fro Davis’ instead of braiding his hair again.
Meanwhile, AD also mentioned how he and LeBron didn’t have such an easy outing since facing the Grizzlies last year in the playoffs. While that underlines the Lakers’ dominance against Memphis, a Ja Morant-less Grizzlies team is by no means a good yardstick to measure competence. The Lakers will have to brace for bigger challenges as the NBA season nears the end of the year.
