The moment Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer was a celebratory moment that will be remembered by everyone who was inside the Crypto.com Arena to witness it. But many couldn’t help but notice that James’ Lakers teammate Anthony Davis was sitting on the bench when it happened.
While the rest of the Lakers were standing up in anticipation of the record, Davis plopped down on the bench seemingly in frustration, never really acknowledging the all-time accomplishment. Many wondered if this was a sign of frustration from Davis towards LeBron, but the Lakers star explained he was simply locked in on the game.
According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Davis explained that he was frustrated at the Lakers trailing in the game that they would ultimately lose to the Oklahoma City Thunder:
“It’s about the game,” Davis said after putting up 23 points and 16 rebounds in the Lakers’ 115-106 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday. “I mean, we’re losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a game we needed. And I was pissed off that we were losing. It’s that simple. It’s nothing that has to do with Bron. He knows that. Everybody else is outside looking in, it’s their opinion. But I was pissed off that we were losing the game.”
Being focused on the task at hand is understandable, especially as the Thunder were directly ahead of the Lakers in the standings. But the optics of everything couldn’t have looked worse as Davis was the only person sitting as a seemingly unbreakable record finally fell.
Even though Davis insists his frustration was aimed solely at the Lakers’ struggles in the game, the big man made sure to clear the air and apologize to LeBron both over the phone and in person, which James accepted:
Davis called James to apologize the next day and then again in person at Crypto.com Arena when the team was holding its walkthrough before the Bucks game.
Davis said that on both occasions, James dismissed his concerns and assured him that he understood Davis was simply caught up in the heat of competition.
Now the two Lakers stars should be able to put this behind them as the team needs both Davis and James to be on the same page and dominating if these new-look Lakers plan on making a playoff push in this final stretch of the season.
Imaging on Lakers’ LeBron James left foot showed general wear and tear
Of course, for that playoff push to happen, the Lakers need James to be healthy and with his left foot continuing to bother him, the team decided to get some imaging done on it to ensure there was nothing more concerning.
“Just us monitoring his foot and the issues there,” head coach Darvin Ham explained prior to the Lakers’ contest against the Milwaukee Bucks. “He was able to get some pictures of it and we’re thankful that there’s not anything extensive, it’s just more of a wear and tear. The biggest thing for him is for us to be efficient with his availability as well as his minutes and all of that to try to give his body a chance whenever he can to recover.”
Everyone surely breathed a sigh of relief at that revelation and LeBron will definitely be back on the court soon for this final push.
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