Darvin Ham: Anthony Davis is the key to Lakers’ potential

Darvin Ham talked about how important Anthony Davis will be to the Lakers’ success next season.

When the Los Angeles Lakers hired Darvin Ham to be their head coach and introduced him to the public on Monday, much of the discussion centered on what he would do with Russell Westbrook (assuming he’s still on the team at the start of the season) and how well he would work with LeBron James.

But another important question was what he would do with superstar big man Anthony Davis, and how he could get back to his best self.

During Monday’s press conference, Ham didn’t mince any words when he was asked about Davis, and he even put much of the onus for the team’s hopes on him.

“I think he’s the key. We’ve all seen what can happen when he’s healthy when he’s playing at a high level,” Ham said.

“His ability to give multiple efforts defensively is key. It’s gonna be the foundation of the type of standard we set… It’s going to be built on that defense, and he’s going to be the centerpiece of it… We need consistency out of Anthony Davis. We need him to be healthy.

“We need him to be in a good mental space, and we need him to be consistent as possible and back to playing that championship-type basketball.”

Although Davis started this season well, averaging 24 points on 52.3% shooting, 10.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots in his first 25 games, his campaign quickly went south.

His production trailed off in December, and he sprained his MCL at mid-month, which led to him missing about five weeks.

He had only been back for 10 contests when he sprained his foot and missed all but three games the rest of the way.

A big question is whether the significant injuries Davis has suffered in the past 18 months are more because he is injury-prone or he was in the wrong place at the wrong time (i.e. landing awkwardly on or colliding with players).