Anthony Davis Now Changes Tune and Says He'll Play Center if it Helps Lakers Win
It's time to celebrate, Lakers fans.
Your newest superstar, Anthony Davis, seems to finally be coming around on the idea of playing center, which he probably should be doing anyway.
Anthony Davis absolutely, positively does not want to play center. Unless it's the difference between winning and losing. From last night's Lakers win vs. Utah: https://t.co/srB5exCG0B @TheAthletic
— Bill Oram (@billoram) October 26, 2019
This may not sound like a big deal, but it's actually huge for multiple reasons. For one, Davis, was vehemently against playing the five position throughout the whole summer. He's not the biggest fan of getting physical down low, and wanted to stick playing power forward like he mostly did with the Pelicans.
"Anthony Davis doesn't want to guard another big center for 15-20 minutes a game. He doesn't want to be stereotyped as a center. We saw Kevin Garnett call himself 6'13" to avoid that." — @criscarter80 pic.twitter.com/A8ATatKbDP
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) July 15, 2019
But even Davis seems to understand that it's necessary for him to make the change. The Lakers' spacing on offense is terrible with AD at the four because there then has to be an extra big man out there with fewer shooters. The Clippers took complete advantage of that in the season opener, locking down LeBron and Davis in the second half.
LeBron/AD only had 2 points in the fourth quarter? Now I see why people consider them such an unstoppable pairing
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) October 23, 2019
AD at the five will unlock his team's full potential on offense, as the better spacing enhances LeBron's game too. This was demonstrated in the Lakers' second half against the Jazz on Friday. The extra spacing of the smaller lineup is also much more conducive to today's NBA.