Los Angeles Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis were bitten by the injury bug at points during the 2022-23 regular season. James played 55 of 82 regular-season games for the storied Lakers franchise, while Davis played 56.
But a recent report indicates that the Lakers feel “really good” about James’ and Davis’ health heading into the 2023-24 regular season.
“Well healthwise, both LeBron and A.D., the team feels really good about,” Dave McMenamin said. “Now, the players on the Lakers organized a minicamp in San Diego last weekend. All the players on the roster were in attendance, and the buzz — the thing that people were talking about — was how well Anthony Davis’ jump shot looked.”
Davis was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and has played for two teams — the Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans — across his 11 seasons in the NBA. He averaged 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game with the Lakers during the 2022-23 regular season. The 6-foot-10 big man also shot the ball with impressive accuracy from the field, seeing as he converted 56.3 percent of his field-goal attempts.
For as great as Davis performed for the Lakers during the 2022-23 regular season, he arguably raised his level of play during the 2023 playoffs. His best series of the 2023 playoffs came during the Western Conference Finals against Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, as the 30-year-old averaged 26.8 points, 14.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game for the series.
Davis’ heroics weren’t enough for the Lakers to beat the Nuggets, though, as Denver swept Los Angeles in the Western Conference Finals and then went on to defeat Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals to win the title.
Meanwhile, James was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NBA Draft and has played for three teams — the Cleveland Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers — across his 20 seasons in the NBA. He averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game for Los Angeles during the 2022-23 regular season. Additionally, James shot 50.0 percent from the field and 76.8 percent from the free-throw line.
Those numbers were good enough for James to earn an All-Star nod — the 19th of his pro career — as well as a spot on the All-NBA Third Team.
Here’s to hoping that James and Davis will both be able to avoid the injury bug during the 2023-24 regular season.
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