Over the last several games for the Los Angeles Lakers, superstar big man Anthony Davis has been outstanding. He’s looked like the best player in the world at times and put up some serious numbers.
Still, former NBA star and current league analyst Charles Barkley is not impressed. Earlier this week, Barkley recently went so far as to claim that Davis has been a disappointment.
Charles Barkley: "[Anthony Davis] has disappointed everybody. He should have been the best player in the league by now."#NBATwitter #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/odfcbRvmj4
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) November 23, 2022
Barkley clearly feels strongly about his opinion, but it is hard for any player to live up to such lofty expectations. There have certainly been times that Davis has looked like one of, if not the best, players in the league.
He was dominant during the Lakers’ run to win the 2020 NBA Finals in the Orlando, Fla. bubble.
Sadly, the thing that has been the biggest hurdle for Davis to overcome since that title run has been his health. In the following season, he played just 36 regular season games. Last season, he played just 40.
However, so far this season, Davis may be playing his best ball since 2020, and he’s done a nice job of staying on the floor. Prior to the start of the 2022-23 campaign, Davis set a lofty goal of playing in all 82 regular season games for the Lakers.
That goal has already been dashed, but Davis has been almost perfect. He’s played in 15 of the Lakers’ 16 games so far this season. In the Lakers’ last four games (three of which have been wins), Davis has been masterful.
In those four games, he’s put up 35.5 points, 18.3 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2.3 steals per contest. He’s certainly looking like one of the top dogs in the league right now.
If he wants to stave off criticism from Barkley and company, however, he’s going to have to keep doing a few things. First off, he’s going to have to keep producing at a high level. Secondly, he’s going to have to keep winning. Lastly, he’ll need to stay healthy.
The Lakers dug themselves a big hole by starting the season 2-10. Though their current 5-11 record looks a bit better, they’re going to have to keep winning games in order to get into the playoff conversation.
The good news on that front is that the season is still relatively young, and the Western Conference appears to be wide open. Despite their 5-11 record, the Lakers are just 4.5 games back of the No. 6 seed and 5.5 games back of the No. 1 seed.
If Davis can keep playing like he has lately and lead the Lakers to more wins, the team should start making up ground in the standings.
