While most players are never shy about posting their offseason workouts on social media, Anthony Davis was largely an enigma with the Los Angeles Lakers throughout the summer.
The Purple and Gold were coming off a disappointing exit in the first round of the playoffs that was highlighted by Davis being limited with injuries. Although the team made some splashes with their changes to the roster, there was still the question of their star big man’s health.
Fortunately, this veteran squad has enjoyed the luxury of having a full offseason to recover and get ready for the 2021-22 NBA season. It appears the extra time off has paid some major dividends for Davis.
The eight-time All-Star provided a rather encouraging update about how his body feels following a busy summer.
“Body feels great,” Davis said at Lakers Media Day. “It’s a lot of just weight strengthening. Getting the Achilles back right, the Achilles was actually fine come playoff time but then it was the groin and the knee. So that was the main focus this summer, basically just starting from scratch and building my body back up to where I’m comfortable again and I feel like I got to that point.”
Davis added that having enough time to actually prepare this offseason allowed him to get back to his normal workout routine.
“No, I think last summer or last mini-summer, I didn’t have that much time to get back on track from the bubbles going into the next season. I think a lot of guys around the league, that’s why a lot of guys are getting hurt. But I had my full summer, so I was able to, 12 weeks, three months, four months of training to get my body back to where it’s supposed to be. So I’m excited about that, but I think that was the biggest focus is just the season came a little too early and guys didn’t have proper training, especially the guys that went to the bubble and went to a deep playoff run, guys didn’t have that proper training to train their bodies like they normally do to prepare for a season. The Lakers and Miami only had like 70-something days before Game 1, which is insane. I think guys got that for a summer, able to rehab and able to get their bodies back. So I think all the guys on the team are healthy and ready to go.”
There is certainly plenty of truth to Davis’ comments regarding the timetable in between seasons. Although the Lakers managed to win a title during unprecedented circumstances in the bubble, it left them and the Miami Heat with little time to recover from the quick turnaround and it clearly made a significant impact down the line.
Even Frank Vogel was admittedly impressed with Davis’ ‘imposing’ figure after he made his return for a workout at the team’s practice facility. The update from the big man himself indicates that Lakers’ fans have good reason to be optimistic about the health of this team.
Davis expects to start at center
L.A. opted to go with a more athletic, defensive-minded approach to the frontcourt this offseason by bringing in Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan. Even though it still remains to be seen how the starting lineup will look, Davis has a good idea of where he will be slotted.
The star big man expects to line up at center most games, with the potential exception of a few matchups.
“Right now, nothing is set in stone, but we want to see what that looks like and I’m comfortable with that. Obviously, there will be times where Dwight [Howard] or [DeAndre Jordan] might get to start at center depending on games, but for the most part, I think the plan is to go with me playing center.”
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