Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Anthony Davis is ready to play spoiler on opening night when the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Golden State Warriors.
The Lakers get the defending champs to open up the year and the Warriors will be receiving their rings for winning the title last season.
“Our first two games are against title contenders,” Davis said on Monday, pointing to the Lakers first two games against the Warriors and Clipperrs. “So it’s always good to spoil the ring nights. The mindset is going up and starting the season with a couple [wins.]”
Anthony Davis on the Lakers coming out of the gates against the Warriors and Clippers: “Our first two games are against two title contenders. It’s always good to spoil a ring night. So our mindset is going up and starting this season with a couple Ws”
The Lakers will have their hands full with the Warriors, who returned the majority of their core from their championship squad, recently extending Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole with lucrative deals.
“Hats off to ‘em, they did a hell of a job last season, but it’s a new year,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “I’m motivated just by walking in this building, wearing this across my chest. My motivation is built in to turn this thing around and have a very much more improved year as opposed to what happened here last year. So kudos to the Warriors, last year’s champs. But this year is a whole new season, and we’re hungry. We got a chip on our shoulder.”
Lakers Dealing With Early Injury Issues
While the Warriors are looking to keep rolling, the Lakers are looking to get on track after missing the postseason last season. And there’s still many questions looming for the team in purple and gold, including the health of Davis, who has already struggled with lower back issues.
Davis will be ready to roll for the opener and will have “no restrictions, whatsoever.” That’s good new after he missed 42 games last season because of knee and ankle injuries.
The Lakers are dealing with a few injuries, most notably to guards Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroder. Westbrook has been listed as day-to-day with a hamstring issued he suffered in the Lakers’ preseason finale but he appears ready to go. The question will be whether he comes off the bench or not, which has been a hot topic during the preseason.
Schroder is slated to miss at least three weeks after having thumb surgery to repair a ligament in his thumb.
Davis Focused on Getting Lakers Back to Winning Ways
The Lakers will be hoping to host their own ring night a year from now but it’s clear they have some work to do. Since winning the championship in the bubble during the turbulent 2019-20 season, the Lakers are 75-79.
“We’re motivated to get back to where we belong. The last two seasons were not what we envisioned. It was not Lakers basketball and we know that. Not what our organization’s standard is,” Davis said. “Our standard is to compete for championships and the last two seasons, we have not. So, it’s motivation and hunger from every guy on the floor. Everybody in the locker room, all the coaches, the front office, to make sure that we get back to that level of basketball that we know we can play at.”
The Lakers need more out of Davis, who has seen the perception about his role with the team shifting over the last two seasons, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“Apart from missing more games that he played in for the Lakers the last two seasons, there was a sentiment within the team’s front office last season that Davis didn’t look like the franchise player they thought they had coming off the 2020 championship,” McMenamin reported.”
The first step will be against the Warriors. The Lakers are 6-point underdogs for the matchup.