LeBron James says he’s looking forward to playing with an ‘angry’ Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis’ 2020-21 season was equal parts disappointing and frustrating. A shortened summer led to a version of Davis that wasn’t prepared for the start of the season. By the time the wheels started turning and Davis looked to be returning to himself, an injury sidelined him and further doomed the Lakers season.

After such a frustrating season, Davis worked in the shadows this offseason. There were minimal, if any, photos or videos of Davis’ offseason. However, it was abundantly clear at media day that Davis had put work in this summer.

And on media day, LeBron James spoke to Spectrum Sportsnet about his excitement to play alongside this extremely motivated version of Davis.

“A lot of people go through the summer, and they like to post their workouts, and post their training, and post everything that they’re doing, but if there was one guy that you did not see this summer until he got married last week, it was Anthony Davis.

“But I knew everything that he was doing putting in the work. Both in the weight room and also on the court, and he’s determined to... it’s not even about proving people wrong, it’s about proving himself right. Because he knows what he can bring to the table... He’s one of the best players that we have in this league, and I’m looking forward to a very angry Anthony Davis. The Anthony Davis that I’m looking forward to seeing this year, it would be the equivalent of if the Green Bay Packers lost on a Sunday, how angry he would be, so I’m looking forward to that one.”

A physical change is impressive in its own right and shows how dedicated Davis is. But in the modern era where social media plays a prominent role in everything, Davis not sharing his workouts anywhere indicates how focused a mindset he has this season. If it leads to the best version of himself this season, it should lead to big things from the Lakers.

Davis’ mindset this offseason may have played a role in his decision to play center this season, as he declared he would be largely doing to kick off media day on Tuesday. Davis’ teammates glowingly spoke about how good the Lakers are when the big man plays at center, and let alone when he plays angry at the 5. His move to center would also explain the aforementioned pictures of him bulking up this offseason while working out as well.

An angry and motivated Davis, then, should not only have James excited for this season but Lakers fans as a whole. Ideally, it will lead to not just an impressive season from Davis individually, but also for the purple and gold as a whole.

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