2022-23 season will decide Anthony Davis’ future with the Lakers
By Jason Reed
The 2022-23 season is right around the corner and the Los Angeles Lakers are coming off of the most disappointing season in franchise history. Fans are not getting their hopes up too high to start this season, as Russell Westbrook is still on the roster and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon.
One player that should be outraged by Westbrook staying is Anthony Davis. Westbrook has a terrible impact on the floor spacing of the Lakers, forcing Davis to turn into a jump-shooter. This obviously is not AD’s bread and butter as the All-Pro forward was the worst jump-shooter in the NBA before getting hurt last season.
This is especially crucial for Davis considering he is entering a massive season with the franchise. While he still has two more seasons under contract after the 2022-23 season (the last of which he can opt out of), this season presents a fork-in-the-road moment for Davis.
The 2022-23 season will decide Anthony Davis’ future with the Lakers.
Davis being a bad jump-shooter because the team has not come to its senses about Russell Westbrook should not impact the long-term thinking around Davis. Although it would not help if his arrow is seemingly pointing down because the front office can’t put together a complimentary roster.
Instead, the biggest storyline around Davis in regard to his future has to be related to his health. Like it or not, Davis has been one of the most injury-prone stars in the league and that is a legitimate issue.
Davis has to put together an entire season of clean health and if not, the organization has to start questioning its long-term plan with the superstar. It is not like he has to play 82 games, but he cannot be missing the significant amount of time that he has the last two seasons.
The only season in which Davis stayed intact for the entire year happened to be the year in which there was a six-month break because of a global pandemic. Outside of that, we still have not seen Davis stay in shape for all 82 and carry that into the playoffs.
Davis is no longer the young spring chicken that he was when he joined the Lakers. While he is not yet “old” in NBA terms, he is turning 30 in March. Injury-prone big men don’t typically get less injury-prone when they are in their 30s.
AD has to prove that he is not going to follow that path and is instead going to carve a new one. If not, the Lakers cannot trust him to be the face of the franchise moving forward.