Maybe it will disappoint Lakers fans to see Davis not chasing such accolades. But, I’m not going out thinking I need to do this, need to do that to win an award. When asked if he wants to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year – an award Davis has set out to win before, but finished runner-up to Antetokounmpo in 2020 – he demurred: “If we can lock in defensively and win ball games and I play to the level I’m capable of playing, that stuff comes. He wants to be on the same page with everyone else in terms of how we communicate those coverages. “You can see the eagerness in his eyes,” Ham said. Ham said Davis’ versatility as a big man who can sit back in pick-and-roll coverages but also switch when necessary is key to his schemes – and Davis is taking well to the challenge. He sneered reflecting on last season’s defensive effort, which saw the Lakers finish 21st in defensive rating. However, Davis might even be more fundamental on the defensive end. Coach Darvin Ham said there is an organic flow to his system that will allow Davis to find his favorite spots on the floor – the left block, for example – but, if Davis can’t draw defenders out from the basket, the Lakers will often find themselves being crushed in the paint again this season.

That will be critical for Davis’ fit in a positionless, four-out, one-in offense that could feature him beginning possessions on the wing or even above the break (where the 3-point line changes from an arc to a straight line). … Wherever coach puts me on the floor, mid-range, post, perimeter, if I’ve got a shot, I’m gonna shoot it.” You can ask guys around here, I’m really shooting the ball. I couldn’t really follow through,” he said. “That’s not an excuse, but it was tough for me to shoot how I wanted to shoot. But the upshot is that he expects his shooting to bounce back when he hits the court this season. It’s probably cold comfort that Davis now says this, too, was partially due to a wrist injury that he battled throughout the second half of the season. The more I’m on the floor, the more I can help my team and its chance of winning when I’m playing.” “And if I’m not, I don’t want it to be injury-based where I can’t play. “I want to be able to play all 82 (games),” he said. The two-time league MVP is considered by plenty of observers to be the best overall player in the NBA, with added credibility from his 2021 title and a Finals MVP award – and big men with Davis’ talent are always going to have to put their resumes side-by-side.īut measuring up is not Davis’ focus going into his third season in L.A., he said after Wednesday’s practice. Seconds later, he realized what his phrasing implied, then laughed: “I say ‘Greek,’ not Giannis (Antetokounmpo).”ĭavis doesn’t need to say anything to invite comparison to the Greek Freak. EL SEGUNDO - It was the Freudian slip of the Lakers’ preseason media day that echoed throughout the league.Īs Anthony Davis searched for a way to symbolize how high fan expectations have become for him, he landed in mythology: “I’m not going to overthink and listen to what everybody else is saying and try to be this whatever player they want me to be to, this Greek God.”

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