There is a lot of excitement around the Los Angeles Lakers heading into the 2023-24 season. Los Angeles made it much farther than anyone expected last season and enters this upcoming season with a roster that is even more talented.
The 2023-24 journey officially began on Monday as the Lakers kicked off preseason festivities with media day. Lakers fans got to hear from their favorite players for the first time in months, only raising the excitement for the upcoming season.
The two people who fans most wanted to hear from were LeBron James and Anthony Davis. LeBron gave fans an excellent update about his lingering foot injury from last season and dove into his reasons to pass on retirement and play another year.
Davis, meanwhile, opened up about his offseason process, his desire to space the floor more, his contract extension talks and his goals for the upcoming season. While we love confidence in players, Davis stated that he has a pretty bold goal for the 2023-24 season that is hard to fully get behind.
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Lakers fans should appreciate Anthony Davis’ goal, even if it is unobtainable
Lakers fans should definitely appreciate the sentiment behind Anthony Davis’ goal this season. At the very least, that shows fans that he wants to be out there every single night and that it isn’t his decision to take certain nights off.
But let’s all be honest with ourselves, there is almost a zero-percent chance that Davis plays all 82 games for the Lakers this season. It isn’t impossible but the odds of Davis playing all 82 games might be the same as hitting the lottery.
Davis has not played more than 62 games in a season since joining the Lakers. The last time that he played more than 70 games was during the 2017-2018 season. The star big man has never reached the 80-game mark and has only reached the 70-game mark twice in his career.
It isn’t just Davis, though. Playing all 82 games is a thing of the distant past in the NBA. Last season there were only three players who started 82 games. Mikal Bridges actually started 83 as he played an extra game after being traded by the Phoenix Suns.
There are so many back-to-backs and NBA teams have become so much smarter about the wear and tear on these athletes’ bodies. Even if Davis can avoid a big injury, there will be something throughout the season that results in him missing time.
We would love to be wrong and would love to see Davis obtain his goal but it simply seems out of the realm of possibility.