past March 10 Anthony Davis he signed his worst scoring game of the season. With little 8 points, 7 field goals and no shots from the free throw line in 32 minutes, the Lakers star recorded his most discreet night since on December 12th he barely scored 1 goal on a day when he left the court with an injury after 8 minutes. It wasn’t the first time this Regular Phase that AD went unnoticed on the field, coinciding with his absence Lebron James, but it was particularly impressive. And, by the way, it opened an interesting discussion.
Does Davis drop his level when he doesn’t have LeBron by his side? Is it necessary for AD to always have a higher level star to be decisive? They were reasonable doubtwho rested on a solid foundation as he left a spectral sensation in his performance against Toronto.
To try to answer these questions, it is necessary to go to the data and, later, give it context.
In the time that LeBron and Davis have played together in the same game, the interior’s individual performance has been poor. With net score cumulative -1.56 without the AD star didn’t impact offense and defense in the same way as his partner, with whom the same rate was +2.66. A positive, but not excessive, consequence of the overall level of the Lakers to date. deadline.
| Condition | Minutes | offensive percentage | defense ratio | Net Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LeBron and Davis on the court | 705 | 113.54 | 110.88 | +2.66 |
| Davis on the court, LeBron off | 226 | 112.37 | 113.93 | -1.56 |
*Data via PBP statistics
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Much of the hope for the Lakers’ future comes because the keys to their project are being inherited by Anthony Davis at a time when his contributions Lebron James age down or put an end to your career. Therefore, those segments in which AD becomes the primary reference for Californians are vital.
So, Could it be said that Davis diminishes his contribution without LeBron James by his side? The answer is definitively no.
This season the Chicago native has played a third of his total games without the King, a pretty big sample to consider. In that span, Davis increased his scoring average by 12%, his rebounding by nearly 50% and his field goal percentage by 5.3%.
Lakers star performs much better when LeBron James isn’t playing average 28 points, 15.8 rebounds and 64.3% accuracy in front of the basket.
| Races | grade point average | average bounces | % success in fields | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| With LeBron James on | 28 | 25.0 | 10.6 | 59.0% |
| Without active LeBron James | 14 | 28.0 | 15.8 | 64.3% |
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This has been the player’s major holdover from his stadium New Orleans Pelicans, where it must have carried a certain stigma. One who denied him his status alpha, as if he was not a leader due to his introspective personality. Nothing could be further from the truth. He Fire in Anthony Davis it may be intermittent but it is there and appears when necessary.
It is now that this more proactive attitude on the part of the interior has become more necessary.
With the Lakers in full battle to get into the Playoffs and even do it directly and avoid Play-In, Darwin Hamm He has pushed AD to take on this figurehead role, a reference in itself, which will be fundamental to the future of the organization.
The results so far are going in the right direction.
“He understands what works, what doesn’t work, what can come to him and what opponents don’t want to give him. And with the way he’s playing, teams are paying a lot of attention to him.“Hamm recently said of the role of A.D. “Opponents are very cautious about him, his potential and what he has done. But he is a smart player. It didn’t arrive so accidentally. The way he can manage all that, understand what the opposing defense is doing, look for other options.”
One of the ways to see the importance of Anthony Davis without LeBron James is to look at the defense. In the last six duels without the legend, the lakers signed the second best defensive ratio in the entire league, allowing opponents just 108.8 points per 100 possessions. And by the way adding 4 wins to those 6 games. How was it with AD on the floor? A little better, with a defensive rating of 106.9 for 108.6 when bench rested.
“Communication is the key”, assured Anthony Davis after beating the Raptors. A suggestion that reflects that all this time without LeBron James by his side serves him to definitely mature as a player and be able to reach the best version of himself. The short-term challenge is to position the Lakers in the postseason while on the horizon they resemble the image of the franchise.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
