This season, the Lakers stormed out of the gate on the heels of Anthony Davis’ strong play. When new coach JJ Redick was hired, he talked about how he wanted to make the offense run more through AD than LeBron James. And in the beginning, it paid dividends. But Anthony Davis’ inconsistency has been a problem forever, and it seems like Redick cannot make it work as well.
Can the Lakers or any other team build a contender around Anthony Davis? The results show that it is not a real possibility.
Lakers Struggle Prove You Cannot Build Around Anthony Davis
Davis is one of the most polarizing players in the league. When he is fully engaged, he is one of the most dominant two-way players. He can anchor the defense, stretch the floor, dominate in the paint, and make plays all over the court. Yet, he is not consistent in what he does. There have always been 40-point games followed by 15-point games.
This season, it is evident that the Lakers cannot depend on Davis. Through 22 games, he has already had two games with less than 10 field goal attempts. He has five games with less than 20 points. Despite the Lakers trying to make him the focal point of the offense, that looks like a role he is not suitable for.
Lakers Changed Their Offense to Suit Anthony Davis
On the last episode of NBA Today, Brian Windhorst talked about how the Lakers decided to change their playstyle to suit their big man. He explained,
“Last year under Darvin Ham, they were the fourth fastest team. They played very, very fast, so even on nights when AD wasn’t involved, they could get up and down the court. They have slowed to the bottom 10 in pace, and they’ve done that to feature AD. But on nights when he struggles like he has recently, their offense gets dragged down.”
The Los Angeles Lakers started the season 13-9, which is even worse than they started last year. And this year, AD and LeBron James have missed a combined one game so far.
Anthony Davis Has Always Been Inconsistent
Anthony Davis started this season strong, averaging 30.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 2 blocks per game in October. He was amazing, and many thought he might have an MVP-type season. The Lakers played five games in October. The team won the three games he scored 30+ points, and lost the two games he scored less than 30 points.
In November, his average numbers dropped a bit. However, he still averaged a very productive 27.5 points and 11.3 rebounds. Notably, though, he had three games when he scored less than 20 points, a 21-point game, and a 22-point game. While the Lakers won three of those five games, he didn’t play well; it speaks to his consistency again. The team played 13 games in November, and he was below average in five of them.
December is looking awful for AD right now, as he is averaging only 17.7 points and 9.7 rebounds on 37.7% shooting from the floor so far. He had one great game, 33 points against Utah, followed by a 12-point game in a blowout loss to the Timberwolves and an eight-point game in a 41-point embarrassment against the Miami Heat
If we look even at playoff games, we can talk more about Anthony Davis’ inconsistency. For example, during the 2020 title run, he had four games with less than 20 points. With two of them coming in the Finals, 15 in a Game 3 loss, and 19 in the Game 6 closing game.
Are AD’s Best Years Behind Him?
Anthony Davis is 31 years old. It is fair to ask whether his best years are behind him. At one point, Davis looked like a top-five player in the league and a perennial MVP candidate. That was back in 2017 and 2018. The Lakers managed to get one good year of Anthony Davis, and they won the title in 2020. Their trade for the big man can be justified.
But making him the focal point of the team right now doesn’t seem a plausible position. He struggled the three years after they won the title, appearing in 36, 40, and 56 games while averaging 21.8, 23.2, and 25.8 points per game.
Redick Once Claimed AD Is not An Alpha
The good thing about the internet is that everything remains. You can find any forgotten interview. And when you say things, they might come back to bite you. These days, one of the viral videos is Redick talking about Davis back in 2023, when the Lakers were losing to the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs.
During a GetUp segment, Redick said AD is not a player you build a team around. He said,
“No matter how much we try to make Anthony Davis into this alpha, that’s not who he is. He’s a fantastic basketball player, an All-NBA player, an All-Defensive player, he’s not an alpha.”
—@jj_redick pic.twitter.com/4Ic8d04fW7
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 24, 2023
Now, Redick is making it clear that the team will revolve around Davis. He gave him the keys to dominate, and as the season progresses, we will see whether he will find an answer for Anthony Davis’ inconsistency or not.
