The struggling Los Angeles Lakers, reason No. 3: Anthony Davis
Before he went down with an injury against Minnesota, Anthony Davis was having a disappointing season of his own. His box score stats may look fine, as he is still averaging 23.3 points and 9.9 rebounds, but his efficiency numbers are jaw-dropping.
Shooting 17.9 percent from three on two attempts per game, Davis has essentially turned into a non-shooter. This decline is steady from last season, where he shot 26 percent on almost three attempts per contest.
Anthony Davis is the only member of the Lakers’ ‘big three’ to be in their prime, meaning he should carry the majority of the nightly load on his shoulders. Instead, LeBron is having to do much of the work at age 36, while AD lags behind on both ends of the court.
In fact, the Lakers actually play worse when Davis is on the court, as he has a negative 0.4 point differential per 100 possessions. When he was once a perennial defensive player of the year candidate, opponents have an effective field goal percentage 3.4 points better than when he’s on the court compared to when he’s on the bench.
For comparison, in 2016 and 2017 in New Orleans, opponents shot almost six percent less in terms of effective field goal percentage when he was on the court. Now, he’s both slower than ever before and continues to get hurt, as he’s set to miss at least a month of action.
The Los Angeles Lakers needed Anthony Davis to be a reliable superstar for their team to succeed, and instead, he’s anything but.