Austin Reaves on AD:

"Everybody else around AD could do more to help AD. Not that he necessarily needs it, but just to make his life easier… I'll have to go back and watch the game to see what we could've done better around him."

— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) November 16, 2023

The Lakers went on an incredible fourth-quarter comeback orchestrated by triple-double man LeBron James and solidified starting point guard D’Angelo Russell. However, Davis’ passive play and inability to guard Domantas Sabonis meant that the Lakers would slump to a 15-point loss.

Given Davis has been playing through a hip injury, he looked severely hampered in the last game, primarily because of some body-related injury. If he wasn’t healthy, maybe he should have rested, but that would open him up to millions of taunts about not wanting to play through minor injuries.

It’s a lose-lose battle for Davis with fans, as he seems to have made an earnest attempt at playing every game this season. Outside of one missed game, AD has been available for the Lakers whenever needed and putting together a Defensive Player of the Year caliber season. He needs to find consistency or the Lakers may be headed for another play-in battle.

Stephen A. Smith Thinks Anthony Davis Is Out Of Shape

There are many theories about why Davis looked disengaged in the loss to the Kings, especially when the team needed him. While I believe it could have something to do with the injury that made him miss the Rockets game, while Stephen A. Smith believes it’s a question of Davis being in poor shape to start the season.

“We need to start paying more attention to Anthony Davis’ conditioning. We need to start calling him out for that/ You’re not playing like that if you’re in shape,” said Stephen A. “Why in god’s name does Anthony Davis seem out of it? Do you know why? Because his a*s ain’t in shape.”

Not being in shape for the start of the season is a massive problem, so this is something to monitor. In Davis’ defense, he’s averaging 22.1 points, 11.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 3.4 blocks on 36.0 minutes player per game.

Outside the opening night disaster against the Nuggets and this Kings’ performance, Davis hasn’t looked out of sorts in most of the games. He’s been a defensive monster and is arguably the most impactful Laker right now. That statement is his problem, as the team stands no chance of winning if he has nights like the one against the Kings.

Given AD was struggling to convert open lobs and not able to keep up with Domantas Sabonis’ lateral movement, there was a significant mobility issue that we haven’t seen AD be restricted by in previous games. Being out-of-shape would be a problem that would reflect all through the start of the season, but this latest performance could be attributed to a possible injury or just another example of AD’s unreliable consistency from one game to the next.