The Los Angeles Lakers were very busy this summer, looking for the right pieces to pair alongside Anthony Davis and LeBron James. The franchise suffering a sweep in the 2023 Western Conference Finals resulted in the likes of Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, Christian Wood, and Gabe Vincent being acquired. Despite several gifted players being added to the roster, LeBron James and Anthony Davis remain the Lakers’ main focus on offense.
Advertisement
Giving his early analysis of the Los Angeles Lakers, Derek Fisher decided to go at all the naysayers who have been criticizing Anthony Davis for a lackluster performance. In the Purple & Gold’s 107-119 loss to the Denver Nuggets, AD only lodged 17 points and 8 rebounds in almost 34 minutes of action. Despite redeeming himself with a 30-point, 12-rebound double-double in the very next game, haters haven’t stopped ripping apart the Brow.
During an appearance on Lakers Nation Official‘s podcast, Fisher kept reiterating that the All-Star duo needed to be the focal point on the offense. By leading the team on the offensive end, James and Davis have enough talent to make their teammates better.
“You always want your best players to be in a position to impact the game because they create opportunity for the other guys and efficient opportunities for the other guys. The more attention AD garners the higher percentage shots, other players on the team are going to get. That’s the beauty of playing with, you know, two cornerstones, top 75 Hall-of-Fame type guys. They make the game easy for everybody else. So in some ways you have to create situations that allow LeBron and AD to kind of be the focal point of what you’re doing so that the game is easy for everybody else,” Fisher told Trevor Lane.
View this post on Instagram
Derek Fisher believes that Anthony Davis can shut his haters up if the Lakers win it all
Anthony Davis has been on the butt end of jokes for several seasons. For the past few seasons, naysayers have been trolling the 6ft 10” forward for all the injuries he sustained. Now, merely a game into the new campaign, and he’s been criticized for a subpar offensive production.
Coming to AD’s defense, Derek Fisher ripped apart all the casuals by stating that the former Kentucky Wildcat’s impact went beyond what the stat sheet showed. Finally, Fisher hoped that the 30-year-old could prove his haters wrong by leading the California side to a Championship win.
“AD’s impact is oftentimes more nuanced than statistical output. For like all the things that we think we want to see he actually does it, it’s just that it doesn’t always show up in the point column. Ultimately, if the Lakers win that’s what kind of shuts all the noise up,” Fisher claimed.
Suffering several injuries in the past makes it difficult for anyone to put their entire faith in Anthony Davis. However, Kevin Garnett went on to name the Lakers forward as one of his picks for the MVP honor.
So far, AD has recorded 23.5 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks in the first two games of the 2023-2024 campaign. As several analysts have rightly stated, including Stephen A. Smith, Davis needs to step up big time if the Lakers want to witness success.
