Anthony Davis has led the Los Angeles Lakers pretty well since the absence of LeBron James for a month due to a tendon injury on his right foot. The Lakers were not even among the top ten teams in the Western Conference when James sustained that tendon injury. But gradually, with AD’s total dominance on the court, the squad started to climb up on the table. It was quite extraordinary how the Lakers finally managed to qualify for the postseason. During the fag end of the regular season, the Lakers were very close to reaching the top six.
However, in the end, the Clippers and the Warriors had a better record based on the win-loss ratio. Hence, the Lakers finished the regular season as the seventh seed and fought their way through the play-ins game and reached the playoff stage. Now, the Purple and the Gold Army are looking unstoppable as they have gained a healthy lead after Game 1 of the second round of the playoffs. And throughout this journey, the one player that had a major contribution both in the offense and the defense is Anthony Davis.
Anthony Davis Is The New Central Figure Of The Lakers
During Game 1 of the Western Conference semis against the defending champions, Anthony Davis scored 30 points and got 23 rebounds. That has been the kind of dominance AD displayed in most of the games of the later stage of the regular season and the postseason journey of the Lakers till now. However, since the 2020 championship, the Lakers have always been centered around LeBron James. Up till mid-February, it was LeBron James’ show all way around.
But the way Anthony Davis took charge of the team and is still leading the team so well has made people wonder if the Lakers have become a more AD team. As most people can see, he is scoring the most points in most of the games. However, Davis has been the anchor of the Lakers’ Defense. Moreover, without him, the Lakers won’t go much further. That has been the kind of impact that AD has on his teammates. After returning from injury, LeBron James has been contributing enough to the team’s cause. He is still shooting the most every game. However, it is easy to see that the Lakers are orbiting around Davis at present.
Green Is Having A Hard Time To Adjust To The New Role Of James
Draymond Green recently spoke about the changes in the Lakers’ dynamic on his podcast. According to him, LeBron James is playing a brand new role in the team. Green has never seen James off the ball so much as he used to carry the Cavaliers with the ball every game. But this LeBron in the Lakers after the return is different.
Coach Darvin Ham is even using James a lot less than he used to. It seems like LeBron James has become the fourth offensive option for the Lakers. Hence, it is indeed a brand new scenario for James, the Lakers, and even the Warriors. They are having a hard time adjusting to the new James and the LA side coming to the playoff semis.