Anthony Davis is confident that the Lakers are simply been slow out of the gates and are destined for greatness in the home stretch of the NBA season. "[It's] not what we can be, but it's who we are. We're starting to establish that we're going to be a fast-paced team, a team that likes to get into the paint, get to the line. But also be tenacious on the defensive end. Creating that identity for what we have to be moving forward. We can't be coming back from All-Star and [wonder], 'All right, what type of team are we?' This is what we have to be. This is who we are. And we've got to make sure how we're playing as of late, the past two, three, four weeks, keeping that identity and carrying it over into post All-Star," Davis said after the Lakers beat Utah.
Davis had 37 points against Utah as the Lakers played without LeBron James. While LeBron was sitting due to ankle soreness, the game came out after a bombshell story from ESPN. The Golden State Warriors reportedly made an eleventh-hour push to acquire LeBron just before last week's NBA trade deadline. Warriors owner Joe Lacob was eager to engage in talks with the Lakers. However, both owner Jeannie Buss and LeBron's camp were not interested in engaging with the Warriors. The lack of interest from LeBron's camp is consistent with pre-trade deadline news that he would be remaining with the Lakers through the rest of the season. However, things reportedly went as far as Draymond Green texting Rich Paul. The veteran Warrior and LeBron's agency stablemate tried to convince their mutual agent to get LeBron on board with the trade.
Lil Wayne Walks Back Anthony Davis Comments
Meanwhile, Lil Wayne has reversed course on one of his bolder basketball takes. The rapper argued that Anthony Davis is now irreplaceable for the Lakers. “You can’t get nobody for him that’s gon’ replace what he can do. There’s nobody out there like that. If you could get Jokic, but you can’t do that," Wayne said on UNDISPUTED last week.
As mentioned, the sentiment is a major departure from something that Wayne had previously advocated for. “If the Lakers want to be a championship team, they have to get rid of AD," the rapper said on the show last November. It was a bold take at the time, despite Davis' injury struggles. He was still the No. 2 scoring option behind LeBron and his trade value was considered prohibitively high, at least in terms of immediate impact players.
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