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Anthony Davis did not disappoint in his first NBA Finals appearance on Wednesday night
In the 38:04 he played against the Miami Heat, Davis scored 34 points on 52.4% shooting from the field, including 50% shooting from 3-point range, and recorded 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks. His 34 points are tied for with the third-most points any Laker has ever scored in their Finals debut, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Elgin Baylor also scored 34 points in his Finals debut with Los Angeles.
With each dominant performance Davis has turned in, the excitement for his future with the team has grown. Davis can opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but nearly everything that’s been reported this season has suggested he’s going to re-sign or, at the very least, opt in to the final year of his contract.
Of course, nothing is official until the ink dries on his contract, but Davis gave Lakers fans the assurance they’ve been waiting for in a recent interview with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports:
After his first NBA Finals media day on Tuesday, Davis explained that learning from LeBron James in his first season with the Lakers has him thoroughly prepared for the Miami Heat, and he’s banking on this trip being the first of many, which is telling considering he has a $28.7 million player option for the 2020-21 season.
“You see the work and preparation LeBron puts in every day, and you understand why this is his 10th NBA Finals appearance. He never stops. I plan to follow this motherf---er to hopefully nine more Finals,” Davis told Yahoo Sports. “We’re all ready to go.”
Nine more Finals appearances? And here Lakers fans were hoping he’d re-sign for at least two more years!
All jokes aside, it’s evident that James has made an impact on Davis in the short time that they’ve been teammates. Now, he wants to be a staple in the Finals like James has been for the last decade, and the simplest way for him to do that is to stay in L.A. with James:
“I don’t want to have long gaps in between Finals,” Davis told Yahoo Sports. “You look at [Rajon Rondo], he’s 10 years removed from his last Finals, and Dwight [Howard] is 11 years out. I don’t want that to happen to me. I want to be here. I came to Los Angeles to contend for championships and I’ve put in the work to do so.”
The only thing that could be more exciting than the thought of James and Davis winning championships for the Lakers over the next few years is them actually doing it. Luckily, they’re only three wins away.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @RadRivas.