Getty LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers have to be at the top of their game heading into the final few weeks of the season. If they want to make a serious playoff push and create some ruckus in the postseason, they don’t have any time to mess around. They need to win as many games as possible.
On Sunday night, however, they faltered, losing to the Chicago Bulls in LeBron James’ return to the court. After the game, Anthony Davis spoke about the importance of everyone playing like themselves. He said that he and James need to just be themselves and let everyone else play their games, too.
“Us coming out and playing Lakers basketball,” Davis said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “I mean, it’s not a two-man show. We got other guys who make our jobs easier. When guys are making shots, and we’re playing off fastbreak points and not taking the ball off the net the entire time, then we’re able to flourish. Both of us. So, just come out and just be LeBron James and Anthony Davis. All the other guys are going to be themselves. Don’t overthink it. Don’t put too much pressure on ourselves. Just come out and play basketball.”
James came off the bench in his return to the court after missing 14 straight games. He played fairly well but only played 29:32. The Lakers superstar ended the game with 19 points, eight rebounds, and three assists on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 0-of-2 shooting from behind the three-point line.
As for Davis, he didn’t have a huge offensive impact against the Bulls. He finished the afternoon with 15 points, nine rebounds, and five assists on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor.
Darvin Ham Sends Message on LeBron James
In addition, head coach Darvin Ham spoke about how the game against Chicago was meant for James to get comfortable in the lineup again. That being said, he also noted that they don’t have any time for excuses.
“Tonight, it was really getting Bron back in and back out there,” Ham said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “It was great. And now we just got to, again, everybody gets on the same page, get back in rhythm with one another. Not saying that we were out of rhythm, but just getting back together and just playing. You know, 12:30 game, whatever. You can use excuse after excuse after excuse with Bron just now coming back, whatever. We just got to come out and play basketball as we’ve been. Playing on our toes. And we’ll fix the rest.”
Anthony Davis Praises Lonnie Walker IV
In other news, after the Lakers’ recent win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Davis praised Lonnie Walker IV for stepping up and staying ready after not earning consistent playing time for a few games.
“A true professional,” Davis said of Walker via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. ‘All our guys, if they play or not, play a lot of minutes, start then go to the bench, start, they don’t play, [they have] good energy and good vibes no matter what. Cheering for their teammates. Lonnie goes in after games. If he don’t play, he goes to the gym, gets shots. Constantly staying ready. And I always say, ‘If y stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready.’ So, he’s been locked in on his game when his number is called, and it was called tonight. And he stepped up and played well.”