The game 2 111- 88 win by the Lakers over the Trailblazers was the best performance of Anthony Davis‘ life. In game 1 Davis was bullied and muscled out of the paint all game, and relied on outside shooting and the Lakers lost. Game 2 was the debut of the Anthony Davis Lakers Nation has been waiting for, with a dominate performance of 31 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes. This Davis did not settle for a three-pointer when he had a lane to the rim he cut through the lane for monster dunks, he played with aggression both on offense and defense. He did not play scared or timid which is how every coach wants their center to play, and yes, he did hit some threes but the Lakers were already up when they started really shooting threes.
They built the lead by pounding the ball into the paint, coming off screens and instead of popping out they curled in toward the basket, looking for dunks not jump shots. Once the Lakers had built a ten point lead and were relaxed, then they started pouring on the threes. The Lakers were not relying and dying on the three to survive but to just coast through the game they had already won, passing and swinging the ball around towards the open man for a set shot three. Every ball player can tell you that once your team has already established a comfortable lead, then you are more comfortable and confident to take that shot. When the pressure is off of you to make a basket normally it seems like every shot goes in and the basket is as big as the Pacific Ocean. Davis had his best game ever, but with that being said, if LeBron James, who almost had another triple double, had not been out on the court the Lakers would have lost. Now, I know what you are thinking, the Lakers just had their best game of the season and are going to roll towards the Championship, but what if they do not?
If the LA Lakers do not win the NBA Championship this year then they should not extend Anthony Davis’ contract.
With LeBron’s future with the Lakers up in the air, Anthony Davis has not proved he can win by himself, and he has not proven he deserves all that money when he has not won anything, except at Kentucky in college. If LeBron leaves the Lakers today the Lakers are the West Pelican’s, the Lakers would be garbage, they would not be making the playoffs, let alone the Finals without LeBron James. Anthony Davis has yet to prove that he is a leader, someone you could build a team around for the next decade. Now, if AD continues to play at the level he showed he can play at in Game 2 last night, if he can consistently play at that level for the rest of the playoffs and win the Championship for the Lakers and Lakers Nation, then he deserves that humongous contract extinction.
But if the Lakers do not win, the Lakers need to cut ties with AD and tell him to go back to the Pelicans, because if he cannot win with the greatest athlete on the planet, who can he win with?
