On Wednesday, February 26, 2016, the Los Angeles Lakers returned from a two-day break to play the Phoenix Suns at the Staples Center. During the second half of the game, the Lakers would lead by a score of 88-68, which would prove to be too wide a gap for the Suns to make up in the final minutes.
Last year, the Lakers were on the brink of an NBA championship. They’d beaten the Philadelphia 76ers in five games, and had one of the best players in the game, one Anthony Davis, on their team. The Lakers were favored to win a championship that year. Unfortunately for them, the Cavs came out and swept them in the finals. This year, however, things look a lot different.
Stephen A. Smith has been on a bit of a rant in the wake of the Lakers’ embarrassing loss to the Cavs in the NBA Finals. Among other things, he said that it was “natural” for the Lakers to lose, and that they relied on Anthony Davis too much. Smith’s comments were pretty harsh, and they came after the Lakers lost, so they kind of stuck out. But on Tuesday, Stephen A. Smith doubled down on his comments.. Read more about nba and let us know what you think. Winning back-to-back NBA championships is an incredibly difficult task. Therefore, the Los Angeles Lakers knew they had a tough task ahead of them for the 2020-21 season. But they probably had no idea how tough the road would be, as injuries to two of their superstars – Anthony Davis and LeBron James – led to a disappointing campaign. The Lakers’ pursuit of a second title finally came to an abrupt halt in the first round of the NBA playoffs when they lost to the Phoenix Suns. Davis’ health played a big role in the loss, Stephen A. Smith of ESPN decided to put the big man to the test. He even wondered if the Lakers could count on him to win another NBA title in the James Davis era.
Anthony Davis’ injury led to Lakers’ first-round loss
. The Lakers were one of the hottest teams in the NBA going into the year, as they were 21-6. However, James missed 27 games and Davis 36, causing the team to drop in the Western Conference standings. Los Angeles finished the season with a 42-30 record and seventh place in the Conference. The Lakers’ struggles without their two superstars led the team to face the second-seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs, but with James and Davis healthy, Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead in the series. Then an injury caught up with her. Davis suffered groin problems in Game 4 and was unable to play in the second half, leading to a 100-92 loss against the Lakers. Then he didn’t play in Game 5 and the Lakers lost again 115-85 before finally getting to play in Game 6. However, in the first quarter of Game 6, Davis aggravated his injury and had to leave the field again. The Lakers then lost by a score of 113-100. Now their season is officially over.
Stephen A. Smith drew attention to the relative fragility of AD
(From left to right) Stephen A. Smith and Anthony Davis. | Mitchell Leff/Getty Images; Zhong Zhi/Getty Images Many think the Lakers could have gone much further in the playoffs if Davis had been healthy during the series against the Suns. However, Smith now doubts that Los Angeles can win another title under the James Davis era. In my opinion, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will not win another championship in the era of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Smith said in the Get Upon 4 episode. June. The ESPN commentator pointed to several strong teams that could prevent the Lakers from winning another title, but he also cited Davis’ injury history as a major reason why they might not win again. I certainly don’t blame [LeBron] for what happened in that series against the Phoenix Suns; it’s all about the longevity of Anthony Davis, Smith said. … Get Anthony Davis on the horn immediately: If you are healthy, you are one of the top five players in the world. No basketball player would question the awesomeness of Anthony Davis as a player. … The problem is its accessibility; it has not always been available. He was certainly not available for the final three games of this series. Smith continued: Ultimately, the question remains whether you can count on the relatively weak Anthony Davis to be a reliable and safe presence for you. The answer would be no. And if you can’t count on him, you have to count on LeBron, who turns 37 and makes his 19th start of his career. The NBA season has begun. And you think that takes the stigma away from the young lions coming up? I don’t think so. The Lakers’ best chance to bring another title to Los Angeles in the LeBron James era came this season. It didn’t happen. I think it’s over.
Is Anthony Davis really unreliable?
. Smith didn’t hold back on what he thinks of Davis and the Lakers. Well, is he right? He’s definitely right. Davis has never played 82 games in his career and the most games he has played in a season is 75. He has also played fewer than 70 games in six of his eight NBA seasons (excluding the lockout-shortened 2019-20 COVID-19 season). Availability has always been an issue for the big man, and with playing the fewest games of his career in 2020-21, this season was the worst. We all know how talented Davis is, he proved that in the 2020 Lakers playoffs. But with James not getting any younger, the Lakers will have to rely on Davis even more in the future, and with all the games he’s missed in the past, that doesn’t seem like a good strategy. Maybe Smith is wrong. Maybe Davis can stay healthy and lead the Lakers to another title. But given his past, it’s hard to see him as a number one option on a championship team. The window for a Lakers championship might be closing. Statistics provided by Basketball Reference COMPARED TO: LeBron James earned $343 million in the NBA, but his former teammate says he was picked in a very different game
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