Many people are very optimistic about the Los Angeles Lakers’ prospects as they approach the start of training camp. While they aren’t the favorites to win the NBA championship, they are considered by many to be in the top echelon of teams that could win it all.
As usual, much of their title hopes will fall on the shoulders of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. For them, the biggest key will be health — namely, will they stay relatively healthy for the entire season?
Davis has plenty of critics who accuse him of supposedly being lazy, soft and unmotivated. However, he is reportedly in the “best shape he’s been in entering a Lakers training camp.” Even better, during a recent minicamp held by LeBron James, he shot the ball from the perimeter very well, which confirms a recent statement by Austin Reaves (h/t Lakers Daily).
Via The Athletic:
“Training camp officially starts Tuesday morning,” wrote Jovan Buha. “The buzz around the facility is that Davis, who has progressively shot 3-pointers worse since his career-best shooting performance during the 2019-20 championship season, is in the best shape he’s been in entering a Lakers training camp and is shooting the ball similar to his earlier levels.”
Davis is already coming off arguably his best season, at least statistically. Although he didn’t shoot well from 3-point range, he averaged 25.9 points and 12.5 rebounds a game while shooting 56.3% from the field. The prospect of Davis being in outstanding shape and shooting a higher percentage from deep is downright scary for the rest of the NBA.
During the 2020 playoffs, he made 38.3% of his 3-point attempts as he helped lead the Lakers to the world championship.