Anthony Davis deactivates his Instagram account after LA Lakers loss to Portland Trail Blazers: All you need to know
Anthony Davis’ weird last few days continued after the LA Lakers' 127-115 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. AD played 31 minutes and finished with 19 points and 20 rebounds but couldn’t prevent yet another disappointing defeat.
Hours after the game, Davis surprisingly deactivated his Instagram account.
Anthony Davis deleted his IG 👀 https://t.co/Lici0Ts13N
About a week ago, Anthony Davis caught national attention when he looked disinterested as LeBron James chased down Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record. The Lakers’ starting center conspicuously sat down as the entire bench stood up, waiting for James to score the historic bucket.
Several basketball analysts speculated that the Lakers were about to pull off a stunning move to let go of Davis before the trade deadline. GM Rob Pelinka apparently never even considered the scenario as the team conducted a couple of deals that didn’t involve the former All-Star.
Anthony Davis would later explain to the media that he was just frustrated with the losses, particularly the defeat against the OKC Thunder. It just so happened that it came when “King James” was just a couple more points away from becoming the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.
'I mean, we're losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a game we needed. And I was pissed off that we were losing. It's that simple. It's nothing that has to do with Bron. He knows that.' @AntDavis23 on his body language on Tuesday. https://t.co/eJ68FMeRfr
In the loss against the Blazers, AD’s struggles were highlighted as Portland only had Drew Eubanks and Trendon Watford to take turns guarding him. The Blazers’ biggest player and starting center Jusuf Nurkic was out with an injury.
Instead of coming up with a dominating performance, Davis put up 19 points on 18 field-goal attempts. Perhaps removing himself from Instagram could help him focus and get his rhythm back as the Lakers desperately fight for at least a play-in spot.
Anthony Davis cuts a frustrated figure in the post-game interview after tonight’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers
One could feel through the screen that Anthony Davis would have preferred not to talk to the media if he could have had his way. He looked sullen, visibly frustrated and answered questions in a monotonous, almost robotic voice.
When asked about the LA Lakers’ playoff hopes with only 24 games remaining in the regular season, AD responded:
“We definitely have to win more games than we lose for sure. I think the guys we have now, we can do it [make the playoffs], we just gotta speed up the process. It’s gonna be fairly a challenge 'cause they’re new and they’re trying to learn the system on both ends of the floor.”
"We definitely have to win more games than we lose for sure." @AntDavis23 gives his perspective on the # Lakers' future and team cohesiveness. https://t.co/tev5w12NDm
LeBron James hasn’t played with Anthony Davis since Pelinka pulled off a series of trades to improve the roster around both superstars. Leading Sixth Man of the Year contender Russell Westbrook is gone and so are Patrick Beverley, Kendrick Nunn and Thomas Bryant.
Replacing them are Jarred Vanderbilt, D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Mo Bamba. The Lakers are 1-2 after the trade deadline and are still looking for “King James” to take his place in the lineup.
On paper, this looks like a better and deeper team than the one that struggled for most of the season. They are, however, in a race against time and against themselves to develop chemistry and become a cohesive unit.
24 games might not be enough to push for a play-in spot without the help of the other teams they are trying to chase.