Lil Wayne on how the Lakers can win another title: ‘You gotta get rid of A.D.’

Jesse Cinquini
4 Min Read
Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY Sports

Legendary hip-hop artist Lil Wayne believes that the Los Angeles Lakers have to trade star big man Anthony Davis if they want to be a championship team.

“If the Lakers wanna be a championship team and the future as well, you gotta get rid of A.D.,” Wayne said. “You gotta get rid of A.D because he A.D. — plain and simple. You don’t wanna criticize that ’cause that’s a health — is whatever it is ’cause you don’t wanna say he’s soft. You don’t want — so whatever it is, it’s A.D. So, because that’s his makeup and that’s who he is, and he’s shown us that. And the only time I guess we haven’t been seeing — we haven’t been shown that was in New Orleans. And we like to say the bubble championship.”

Davis has had difficulty staying healthy for the Lakers during the past few seasons. He played in 40 games with the team during the 2021-22 regular season and 56 games during the 2022-23 regular season.

Additionally, he has already sat out a game for the Lakers this season, seeing as how he missed the team’s matchup against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 8.

Without Davis in the lineup, the Lakers got demolished by the Rockets by a final score of 128-94. Only three players — LeBron James, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura — reached double digits in points for Los Angeles in the loss.

Davis is averaging 23.9 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game across seven appearances with the storied Lakers franchise so far this season.

Arguably his best performance of the season to this point came against the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 29. The big man recorded 30 points and 16 rebounds, but the Lakers still lost in overtime.

Despite Davis’ two-way production this season, the Lakers have struggled to win games of late. The team is currently riding a three-game losing streak with road losses to the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat along with the Rockets.

Los Angeles’ season to this point has been a tale of two proximities. On one hand, the Lakers have yet to win a road game, considering they hold an 0-5 road record at the moment.

But on the other hand, the team has played great basketball at home. The Lakers own a 3-0 home record with wins over the Phoenix Suns, Magic and Los Angeles Clippers.

The Lakers will put their 0-5 road record to the test when they play Kevin Durant and the Suns in Phoenix on Friday in an In-Season Tournament game. A road win against one of the better teams in the Western Conference could go a long way toward helping the Lakers become more confident playing away from home.

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Jesse is a sports journalist with extensive experience covering the NBA. He has worked as a staff writer covering the Lakers’ dreaded rivals, the Boston Celtics, for SB Nation. He has also covered the New York Knicks for The Knicks Wall.