The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled thus far during the NBA’s restart in Orlando, Fla., and former NBA star Charles Barkley has doubts about whether great success will come in the playoffs.
His doubts have to do with his belief that Lakers star Anthony Davis doesn’t have what it takes to lead a team to a championship.
“I still think it’s going to come down to Anthony Davis,” he said on the Lakers’ chances against the Los Angeles Clippers in the playoffs. “And I don’t know if he’s got that dog in him.”
Barkley continued by breaking down what he thinks Davis lacks as a leader on the team.
“You need to have a guy who say, ‘Hey, I’m just gonna kill y’all, ain’t nothing y’all can do about it. If y’all don’t double me I’m going to go crazy. If ya’ll double me, we going to get wide-open threes.’ Anthony Davis has not proven to me that he can be that guy.”
It’s an interesting opinion, but it is not exactly accurate. Throughout his first season with the Lakers, Davis has proven that he can take over games at will. Furthermore, he’s the Lakers’ leading scorer, averaging 26.4 points per game so far this season.
In the bubble thus far, he’s averaging 23.2 points per game. In the win over the Clippers last week, Davis recorded 34 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
He was the leading scorer in the game and carried the Lakers in an unusually quiet game from LeBron James. James finished the night with just 16 points.
The truth is that pundits like Barkley will likely doubt Davis’ ability to win at the highest level until he actually wins an NBA title.
Luckily, he’s got a chance to prove all the doubters wrong this season.
The Lakers are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference heading into the playoffs.
