“Just get back to that championship pedigree that us as players know we're capable of” - Anthony Davis believes LeBron James and him can still be the core of a title-contending team
Anthony Davis believes LeBron James and him can still be the leaders of a title-contending team. The LA Lakers star duo led the franchise to their record 17th NBA title in their first season together. However, injuries have forced them to stay sidelined for long stretches over the last two campaigns.
The Lakers suffered a first-round exit in the playoffs at the hands of the Phoenix Suns, while they failed to make the cut for the play-in tournament this year. That was unexpected for a team led by arguably two top ten players in the league, Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
New story: Anthony Davis believes him and LeBron James can still lead a title team but admits the duo need to discuss “what changed” since the Bubble in rebuilding a contender this summer es.pn/3Kxb4zH
Davis and James were feared around the league, but that notion could change from next season after their recent struggles. AD still thinks that he and LeBron can be the core of a championship team. Here's what the eight-time All-Star forward told ESPN regarding this:
"I think us two can. We've shown that we can," Davis said, conducting a season-wrap news conference before the Los Angeles Lakers played their final game of the season on Sunday. "I don't know that's something we just have to reevaluate in the offseason, upstairs, me and him talking about this season and what we would like to see next season and kind of just figure it out."
Anthony Davis continued:
"[We will] come together as a group ... to get back to championship mentality that we had our first year. So that would be a very interesting conversation just from the standpoint of what changed."
"I mean, injuries, but even when we were healthy, I don't think we were able to reach our full potential -- for whatever reason. So I think we want to figure it out and just get back to that championship pedigree that us as players know we're capable of."
Can LeBron James and Anthony Davis lead the LA Lakers to championship contention again?
LeBron James and Anthony Davis have barely played together for the LA Lakers over the last two seasons. When healthy, LeBron and AD were difficult to deal with for opposition teams, especially in a seven-game series. That kept the Lakers in conversation as legitimate contenders, despite their poor record across the last two campaigns.
LeBron James, despite turning 37 last December, hasn't slowed down at all and is coming off a season where he averaged 30 points per game. Meanwhile, Anthony Davis played through multiple injuries in his last few games of the 2021-22 NBA regular-season and still managed to produce an impactful performance on both ends of the floor.
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It took the two just one season to find their chemistry and lead the Lakers to championship success, so it's fair to assume that if they can manage to stay healthy for large swathes, they can lead LA to a successful season again.