Lakers’ Anthony Davis Has Harsh Response to New JJ Redick Coaching Strategy
While most of the roster stays the same, the Los Angeles Lakers are seeing a massive change with new head coach JJ Redick, a friend and podcast partner of NBA legend LeBron James.
With a focus on numbers and analytics, Redick is looking to take the legendary organization and push them in a new, hopefully more-winning direction.
Still, this strategy may not translate for all players.
According to Daniel Starkand of Lakers Nation, star center Anthony Davis is not “really big on data and analytics.”
“I don’t even know what some of that stuff means,” Davis said. “It doesn’t matter to me. What matters is if we have more points than the other team at the end of the game. That’s all I care about.”
“These things that they come up with as far as analytics, these categories and stuff like that, it doesn’t even matter. It has no influence on me whatsoever. … I don’t care about numbers, numbers don’t mean anything. You can average 50 and be in last place.”
For someone who the data doesn’t mean anything, Davis has some pretty impressive numbers.
After spending a single season with Kentucky and helping lead them to the NCAA championship, Davis was selected by the New Orleans Hornets (now Pelicans) with the first overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft.
Despite suffering multiple injuries, Davis was named to the 2023 NBA All-Rookie Team. He would spend seven seasons with the Pelicans, averaging 23.7 points, 10.5 total rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 2.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
With New Orleans, Davis was named to six separate All-Star teams, thee All-NBA First Teams, three NBA All-Defensive Teams, and led the league in blocks in 2014, 2015, and 2018.
In 2019, Davis was traded to the Lakers in exchange for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and three first-round draft picks. Despite suffering from injuries again, Davis had a positive effect on the team overall.
With Los Angeles, Davis has averaged 24.7 points, 10.8 total rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.2 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game. He was also named to three more All-Star teams, two more All-NBA teams, and two more NBA All-Defensive Teams.
Davis was a member of the Lakers team that won the 2020 NBA Championship and the 2023 NBA Cup Championship. In 2021, he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.