“Charles Barkley’s of the world calling him ‘street clothes’ and stuff like that, it might rake his nerves” - Stephen A. Smith on Anthony Davis’ comments regarding his injuries
NBA and Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis, for the incredible talent that he is, has often been labeled soft and injury prone as the superstar continues to miss a huge chunk of his team's games.
On ESPN's morning show First Take, sports media personality Stephen A. Smith spoke about how Anthony Davis coming out addressing his injury concerns might miss the point on why former players like Charles Barkley criticized him for his injuries. Smith said:
"Charles Barkley’s of the world calling him ‘street clothes’ and stuff like that, it might rake his nerves or whatever, but no one has ever said that he can't play. No one has ever said that he's not a star. What we've said is - you're injury prone and that happens to be factual."
Stephen A. continued by talking about how the reactions to AD being called injury prone aren't based on this year alone. Smith continued:
"You have a history of repeatedly being injured. And after the bubble play, you spent the off season not getting in shape. You spent the off season, according to reports, getting yourself conditioned to avoid injuries and you were unsuccessful in doing that, too."
.@stephenasmith reacts to Anthony Davis' comments on his injuries.
"I think when healthy, he's in the conversation as one of the top-5 players in the world. ... But, he's injury prone. ... No one has ever said he can't play!" https://t.co/6SsVJdnRSH
Should the Lakers move on from Anthony Davis?
The LA Lakers (31-47) have endured a tumultuous campaign. The difficulties have led to rumors of the front office being tired of how injury prone Anthony Davis is and that they might be willing to move on from him in the summer should they get the compensation that they are looking for.
This season, Anthony Davis is averaging 23.3 points and 9.8 rebounds on better than 53% shooting from the field. However, he is shooting a paltry rate of 19.2% from beyond the arc, and that is shockingly low for a guy who is shooting a little over 30% from the perimeter for his career.
The Lakers loss to the Trail Blazers puts them 4 games under .500 for the 1st time under Frank Vogel.
Anthony Davis played 9:09 in the 4th, but didn't attempt a shot- FG or FT.
The last time AD played at least 5 mins in a 4th quarter without a shot attempt was Dec. 28, 2015 https://t.co/8Nv8lE4TEX
While there won't be any shortage of teams potentially wanting to trade for Davis, the Lakers can't demand the farm considering how injury prone their superstar is. The Miami Heat could potentially be one of the teams interested in doing a deal as it is well known how much Pat Riley loves his superstars and the Lakers can ask for some very good players in return.
Either way, the Los Angeles Lakers front office has a decision to make regarding the future of Anthony Davis as he has missed nearly 40 games this season and cannot be relied upon going forward considering how injury prone he is and also considering the fact that the other superstar in the team in LeBron James is also getting up there in age and is starting to have injuries as well.