The Los Angeles Lakers have heard a ton of hate in what has been an up-and-down 2023-2024 season.
While it has not been the fairly tale season that many had projected, that is not to say that there are not guys within their locker room who do not deserve their flowers. With that in mind, here are a few of the guys who deserve some more appreciation.
3 Lakers who deserve more love:
1. Anthony Davis
Can we all take a quick moment to acknowledge the fact that Anthony Davis has been active in 52 of the Lakers' 56 games to date? That in and of itself given his extensive injury record is worthy of a round of applause.
His dominant performance on both ends of the court has been the icing on the cake. The Defensive Player of the Year candidate has averaged 35.7 MPG, 24.9 PPG, 12.2 RPG (3rd in the NBA), 3.8 APG, 2.5 BPG and 1.1 SPG on shooting splits of 55.3% FG/28.4% 3/81.0% FT. He has more or less cemented his place as the heir to LeBron's throne.
2. D'Angelo Russell
Not only is D'Lo arguably the most criticized Laker, he is actually one of the more under-appreciated players across the entire league. He has been a solid 3rd option all season next to LBJ and AD, but has completely flipped a switch since the start of the New Year.
In 2024, the southpaw is putting up over 22 points, 6 assists, and 3.5 made triples per game. Dejounte Murray or Zach LaVine would have been nice pick-ups, but folks act like they would have been massive upgrades over Russell when that is simply not the case.
3. Darvin Ham
For a guy that looked like the latest LeBron James coaching victim just a few weeks ago, Darvin Ham has done a solid job of getting things back on the track in the past few weeks. Los Angeles has won 6 of it's last 7 games and are now sole owners of 9th place in the West.
That might not be the most exciting news, but considering how low things looked not too long ago 9th place and an impressive recent road trip breed a lot of confidence in this team going forward.
Plus, we already have a firsthand account of Ham's ability to resurrect a seemingly lost season through his efforts in 2022-2023. Give the shot-caller some props.