Google News Lakers GM warns NBA teams Anthony Davis is determined to have big bounce back year
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Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka has warned the NBA that Anthony Davis has been working extremely hard this offseason and that he is committed to returning to his best level. The Lakers went all in to acquire Davis in the summer of 2019 and it paid off as Davis was the key in the Lakers' run to the NBA title in the bubble.
Since helping the Lakers win the championship two years ago, Davis has been struggling to stay healthy. A year ago, the Lakers suffered a first round exit. This past season, the Lakers didn't even reach the playoffs. Davis didn't play much this past season and Davis was blamed for failing to stay healthy.
“He’s bought in, and I think he’s quietly put together one of the biggest offseasons of his career,” Pelinka said, per Lakers Daily. “You can just tell. He’s got a very serious tone about him.
Last year didn’t unfold the way that any of us wanted, and I think everyone’s gonna come back with a chip on our shoulder, and A.D.’s gonna lead us with that. I think he’s working hard. I know he’s working really hard on his body”.
Davis wanted to return to the Lakers
After the Lakers' extremely disappointed season ended, Davis expressed hope to get at least one more chance with LeBron James. "I think us two can. We've shown that we can," Davis said.
"I don't know that's something we just have to reevaluate in the offseason, upstairs, me and him talking about this season and what we would like to see next season and kind of just figure it out. [We will] come together as a group, to get back to championship mentality that we had our first year.
So that would be a very interesting conversation just from the standpoint of what changed. I mean, injuries, but even when we were healthy, I don't think we were able to reach our full potential -- for whatever reason. So I think we want to figure it out and just get back to that championship pedigree that us as players know we're capable of." The Lakers' trio of Davis, James and Russell Westbrook didn't get to play much last year.
Westbrook opted into the final year of his contract with the Lakers but it is not a secret that the Lakers would like to replace Westbrook with Kyrie Irving. When it comes to Davis, the Lakers are not ready yet to move on from the star big man.