Photo Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Lakers will be without LeBron James for several weeks due to an injury. In this case, it’s now a good time for superstar big man Anthony Davis to step up as the first option on the team and keep the team afloat amid their playoff push.
The Lakers are currently the 12th seed in the Western Conference, tallying a team record of 29 wins and 33 losses. They have made it their goal to make the NBA playoffs and finish sixth in the standings come the end of the season.
That wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of Anthony Davis. The 29-year old Lakers big man has always been pegged as an MVP-caliber player and poised to take the torch from LeBron James. But he’s already in his fourth season with the team, and that hasn’t happened yet.
Everyone is well aware of the fact that Davis hasn’t been living up to his high expectations. For one, NBA Hall of Famer and former Lakers superstar Shaquille O’Neal thinks Davis has fell off and now needs to take his game to another level.
“I don’t want to say this disrespectfully, but he has fell off,” O’Neal said, “Not saying he’s not a great player, but three years ago, we were heralding him as the next greatest player in the NBA.”
“When you are a champion and you’re a Laker, they expect you to play at a certain level.”@SHAQ on his expectations for AD during LeBron’s absence pic.twitter.com/tnroURQC1D
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 1, 2023
