The Los Angeles Lakers have an opportunity to quickly turn things around after their loss in Dallas as they head to San Antonio to face the Spurs on Wednesday. This means potentially the first meeting between Lakers superstar Anthony Davis and Spurs rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama.
The league has never seen anything like Wembanyama, a 7’4 center with guard skills and the ability to handle the ball and shoot from deep while also already establishing himself as one of the best rim protectors in the NBA.
Wembanyama was the most hyped prospect since LeBron James came in the league in 2003 and there is a ton of pressure on him to deliver. Davis was asked about those expectations being placed on the Spurs rookie and the Lakers star stressed the importance of Wembanyama not focusing on that outside pressure, but just playing and finding his way in order to help his team win, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah, I mean obviously he’s got the best coach to ever do it over there with him to help him through all of that to be in his ear. It’s tough, obviously it’s a lot of pressure and everyone is locking in on you whether it’s media or other players coming in that you’re facing. There’s pressure on you to perform well from the outside but as long as, at least for me when I came into the league, obviously my path was a little different being able to play with guys like Bron and Kobe and Melo and all those guys in the Olympics to kind of make it a smoother transition for me.
“But you just got to go in and play, find your way. You’re gonna have ups and downs in the season. Obviously he’s an exceptional talent but don’t stress yourself over the pressure from everyone else. You got to know what your team wants from you and don’t think that you have to turn a franchise around your first year. I don’t think no one has even done that, even Bron in his rookie year… Even the greatest to ever lace them up didn’t do it in his rookie year. So I think just slow roll it, take your time and each year, each game just get better and better.”
Just improving with each game is extremely important and as Davis said, even LeBron couldn’t immediately turn his team into a playoff squad as a rookie, let alone a championship contender. The outside world is going to dissect every single thing Wembanyama does and if he focuses on that, he could cause more harm than good.
But Wembanyama is already off to a great start in his career. He is currently tied for the league lead in blocks per game at 2.8 and ranks in the top-10 in rebounds with 10.6 to go along with his 18.8 points per game. The sky is literally the limit for the rookie and Davis and the Lakers will have to work hard to contain him when they face off.
Lakers’ Anthony Davis doesn’t care about outside criticism
One reason Davis is stressing that to Wembanyama is because the Lakers superstar has been one of the most criticized players over the past couple of seasons. But Davis couldn’t care less about what the outside world says to him.
Davis said that as long as the Lakers are winning, he does not care about any outside opinions, choosing simply to focus on himself and his team.
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