Los Angeles Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been plagued by injuries multiple times during the 2022-23 regular season. James played 55 of 82 regular season games for the legendary Lakers, while Davis played 56 games.
But a recent report indicated that the Lakers feel “very good” about the health of James and Davis heading into the 2023-24 regular season.
“As far as health, whether it’s LeBron or AD, the team feels really good,” Dave McMenamin said. “Now, the Lakers players organized a mini-camp in San Diego last weekend. All the players on the roster showed up, and the talk was how good Anthony Davis’ jump shot looked.”
Davis was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and spent 11 seasons in the NBA playing for two teams – the Lakers and New Orleans Pelicans. In the 2022-23 regular season, he averaged 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game for the Lakers. The 6-foot-10 big man also impressively shot 56.3 percent from the field.
Although Davis performed well for the Lakers in the 2022-23 regular season, he raised questions about his performance in the 2023 playoffs. His best series of the 2023 playoffs came in the Western Conference Finals against Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, with the 30-year-old playing in the middle of the series Averaged 26.8 points, 14.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
Still, Davis’ heroics weren’t enough for the Lakers to defeat the Nuggets, who swept Los Angeles in the Western Conference Finals before defeating Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals , won the championship.
James, meanwhile, was the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NBA draft and played for three teams — the Cleveland Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers — over 20 seasons in the NBA. In the 2022-23 regular season, he averaged 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game for Los Angeles. In addition, James’ field goal percentage was 50.0% and his free throw percentage was 76.8%.
Those numbers were enough to earn James an All-Star selection — the 19th of his career — and selection to the All-NBA Third Team.
Hopefully, both James and Davis will avoid injuries during the 2023-24 regular season.