The Los Angeles Lakers haven’t found much success this season. They’ve crushed lesser teams, but they’ve struggled to close games out, especially against NBA championship contenders. The season is still early, but it’s been a worrisome trend.
Granted that LeBron James has put up big numbers more often than not, but the rest of the supporting cast has been lacking. Moroever, coach Darvin Ham has often struggled to make in-game tweaks and adjustments to his injury-depleted rotations.
Also, Anthony Davis has alternated great games with not-so-good ones, not to mention the fact that he’s been quite passive when the game is on the line and during key stretches.
That was evident again in their game with the Dallas Mavericks. James put on a show with 16 points in the fourth quarter, while Davis only took one shot in the final 12 minutes en route to a three-point loss.
Richard Sherman Blames Davis For Lakers Loss
That’s why former Super Bowl champion Richard Sherman didn’t mince his words against him. In the latest edition of Undisputed, Sherman stated that Davis has a tendency to disappear on the backend of back-to-back games, especially in crunch time:
“Where is Anthony Davis? File a missing person report because, again, on a back-to-back, he disappears when they need him. Sure he, had 13 rebounds but 4-for-10 from the field. Non-existent, I didn’t even hear his name being mentioned in the 4th,” Sherman said.
The former Seattle Seahawks star stated that Lakers fans should blame Davis for the loss, adding that he was supposed to take over and be the Batman to LeBron James’ Robin:
“That’s where the blame needs to be,” continued Sherman. “LeBron misses the game-tying shot in the end, but he is supposed to have given the keys to Anthony Davis. Like, this is your team; I am your running mate.”
Anthony Davis
Skip Bayless Mocks Davis
On that same note, renowned pundit Skip Bayless mocked the ‘A.D.’ nickname by claiming it stands for ‘Always Disappearing’ and called him out for not stepping up and demanding the ball in crunch time:
“A.D. too often stands for Always Disappearing, and last night he disappeared in the 4th quarter,” said Bayless.“Again, you and I, and all of us, have kicked this around and kicked him around on the show again and again and again. If you are that dude, you gotta demand the basketball, you gotta call for it, you gotta say, Remember me?”
This Is Just Who He Is
Anthony Davis has been in the league for 11 years now, yet some people seem to forget that. He’s always been that kind of player, so asking him to be any different at this point in his career is pretty much futile.
There’s nothing wrong with not being a go-to guy. Davis is perhaps the best Robin in the league, and those help you win championships as well. Of course, it would be better if he were to take LeBron’s torch and become their leader, but that’s just not his personality.
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Needless to say, that puts the Lakers in a tough spot, as a 39-year-old LeBron James cannot handle all the work on his own. But expecting anything different from an 11-year veteran won’t get us anywhere.
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