Lakers assistant coach calls Anthony Davis ‘assassin’ of the team like Kobe Bryant

Peter Dewey
2 Min Read

Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Mike Penberthy praised All-Star forward Anthony Davis by comparing him to the late Kobe Bryant.

Bryant, who tragically passed away earlier this year, won five championships with the Lakers during his storied career.

During his career, Bryant formed a lethal duo with center Shaquille O’Neal, similar to the Lakers’ current duo of Davis and LeBron James.

However, Penberthy explained that Davis, like Bryant, has the killer instinct of the two in an exclusive interview with Lakers Daily.

“Shaq had the ability to make other people better,” Penberthy said. “LeBron made other people better. A.D. and Kobe were more of the assassins of the group. They’re looking to score and looking to get the ball. Not that they couldn’t make other people better, but they were more valuable to the team scoring.”

Davis did just that in the NBA playoffs this year, as he hit a game-winning 3-pointer in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets.

Throughout the postseason, Davis averaged 27.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.

His scoring was a huge reason why the Lakers won an NBA title this year.

The Lakers are surely hoping that Davis and James can bring home as many titles as O’Neal and Bryant did during their time together.

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Peter is a graduate of Quinnipiac University where he covered the MAAC and college basketball for three years. He has worked for NBC Sports, the Connecticut Sun and the Meriden Record-Journal covering basketball and other major sports. Follow him on Twitter @peterdewey2.