LOS ANGELES – Nearly 2.5 hours before the Los Angeles Lakers officially practiced for their upcoming NBA play-in game, LeBron James and Anthony Davis huddled up to prepare for the challenge ahead.
The work went beyond perfecting their two-man game and studying game footage. In the weight room, James and Davis drew up schemes and detailed notes that could become helpful for when the No. 7 Lakers (43-39) host the eighth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves (42-40) on Tuesday (7 pm PT, ESPN).
“When you have a guy like him, myself and the guys around us, this doesn’t come around often,” Anthony Davis said. “So, you definitely don’t want to take it for granted.”
The Lakers won the 2020 NBA championship in a campus bubble during the early stages of the pandemic primarily because of how well James and Davis complemented each other with their personality and skills.
Since then, the Lakers’ duo labored through a first-round playoff exit (2021) before missing the NBA Play-In Tournament entirely (2022). Some of those reasons trace both to the team’s overlapping injuries, namely to James and Davis. Some of it also pointed to faulty roster construction, namely with acquiring Russell Westbrook before the 2021-22 campaign.
But as the Lakers have spent this past season addressing both their roster’s durability and depth, they have become encouraged with another development. Just like when their two stars wrote all over the weight room mirrors prior to Monday’s practice, the Lakers have observed that Davis often imitates James’ mindset and preparation.
“The way that ‘Bron takes care of himself, the way he’s focused and the way he pushes him to be great,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “It’s the way ‘Bron manages his body and really thrusts himself into the action once he’s able to get back out there. The aggressiveness and tenaciousness with the way he approaches the game, I think it rubs off on everyone.”
It has most importantly rubbed off on Davis, who has averaged 25.9 points on 56.3% shooting and 12.5 rebounds in what marks his best season with the Lakers since helping them win an NBA title in the campus bubble. After missing a combined 26 games, including 23 to treat a stressed right foot, Davis enters the NBA Play-In Tournament with the Lakers raving about his durability and aggressiveness.
Anthony Davis’ impact and Los Angeles Lakers playoff hopes
Davis dismissed any notion that he previously lacked the necessary consistent training habits to stay consistently healthy and dominant. As Davis said, “I’ve always been a guy that preps” ever since his first season with the Lakers (2019-20). But he conceded an attitude shift, saying, “usually something goes wrong, I’m hard on myself.”
Davis often showed those frustrations through the Lakers’ turbulent performances, Westbrook’s uneven play and during his own injuries. Remember that Davis did not even stand up and applaud when James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record nearly two months ago amid his frustrations with the team’s play.
Since then? Davis has often looked unstoppable on the court and joyful off of it.
“That’s what Ham is all about – positive energy and just keep moving forward,” Davis said. “I think I picked some of that up this year.”
Davis’ improved spirit coincided with two other developments.
The first part? Davis has stayed healthy.
Since missing 20 games because of a stressed right foot from Dec. 18 through Jan. 24, Davis has not experienced any significant injuries. He missed only three more games as part of the Lakers’ strategy to sit him in part of back-to-backs for precautionary reasons. Davis has survived and even thrived through awkward falls and collisions.
“We have some of the best medical professionals in all of sports,” Ham said. “No one hit the panic button. We just wanted to make sure we were clear on what we were looking at.”
The second part? Davis has played with a better roster.
Before the trade deadline, the Lakers sent Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and a 2027 first-round pick to Utah while acquiring from Minnesota a proven playmaker (D’Angelo Russell), shooter (Malik Beasley) and rebounder (Jarred Vanderbilt).
Davis’ numbers may look similar before the trade deadline (26.6 points, 8.5 rebounds) and after it (25.0 points, 9.5 rebounds per game). But the Los Angeles Lakers’ improved offensive depth has freed up Davis to excel more defensively. After ranking 20th overall in defensive rating (114.3) before the trade deadline, the Lakers have fared second in defensive rating (110.8) with the new additions.
“He’s always in the right spot,” Vanderbilt said of Anthony Davis. “He’s always helping out. He’s very active with his hands and being a rim protector. He can guard in space. He can guard in the perimeter. He’s really elite on that end of the floor. He makes everyone’s job easier, especially for me.”
Perhaps the Lakers feel the same way about Davis’ in their play-in game against Minnesota. The reasons might go beyond Davis’ dominance as a post player and rim protector. It could also stem from Davis and James writing game plans on the weight room mirrors.
“Just him keeping a competitive mindset,” Ham said of Davis. “Him constantly seeing the glass as half full. Him encouraging his teammates and encouraging us as coaches. The spirit has been at an all-time high.”
Mark Medina covers the NBA for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.
