https://x.com/getupespn/status/1661366655090405382?s=46
“No matter how much we try to make Anthony Davis into this alpha, that's not who he is. He's a fantastic basketball player, an All-NBA player, an All-Defensive player, he's not an alpha."
Do you agree with JJ? Better yet, do you think JJ still agrees with himself now that he’s AD’s head coach?
26 comments
You saw it against okc. The moment hartenstein didn’t let him waltz to the rim he just didn’t attack. The different between AD and every other mvp candidate is that they create their own bucket. Lebron has to hand feed AD 10 points before he does shit on his own
Personality-wise it’s absolutely true. It also shouldn’t matter on the basketball court. And it doesn’t matter. When the Lakers have been good it wasn’t because of that. When they’ve struggled it wasn’t because of that.
Honestly, AD is supremely talented but he’s no alpha dog. There’s only a handful each year and there aren’t many this year. Remains to be seen who will emerge as new alphas though.
LeBron at age 32 would carry this current Lakers roster to the finals easily. Too bad he’s old now, AD just doesn’t have that dog in him.
Yes!
Yep, but Bron didn’t have it either, Id say up until his 1st chip. Not many have had that full alpha aura since Kobe. Maybe just a different time.
Maybe AD being the alpha almost doesn’t matter in this NBA, as there are many ways to lead a team. The issue with AD is that you can easily see it in his body language when he’s not in the right headspace, and that affects his ability to lead by example.
EDIT: If you can’t tell when AD is in passive mode, you are either blind, or not watching games.
Who cares honestly? Davis is the best player on the team by far and its not even close. We should be more worried about lebrons decline. AD will be fine.
The problem is people have unrealistic expectations for Davis. He’s a center. Bigs like Jokic and Giannis are the exception not the norm. Most aren’t out there playmaking or generating their own shots left and right. Even most of the historically great ones.
This roster is fucking tragic. Lebron is 40 and he is the only playmaker worth a single damn on the roster. People will shit on AD and ignore Reaves, Russell, and whoever else tripping over the ball and passing to the other team whenever they are tasked with actually running an offense.
Even Shaq wasn’t out there shooting 20+ times and dogging on teams literally every single game. I truly will never understand everyone hating on AD the second he has a game where he doesn’t play like he’s Giannis. The dude is not allowed to score under 20 points or everyone comes out of the woodworks calling him soft, not aggressive, etc. Meanwhile, again, the players that are supposed to play make look like they never ran an offense in their life.
Garbage roster and AD gets the blame whenever they lose. Wtf do people want him to do? He’s not a top 3 player and never was. He’s suddenly supposed to average like 32 PPG?
AD can lead the team in scoring and defense, but he’s not the emotional leader. He can’t get the guys to rally behind him. LeBron still has to do it :/
No biggie. Kareem was never the alpha either. It was Oscar then Magic.
he’s an alpha in flopping that’s for sure
Shot creation isn’t necessary for every player in the lineup but it is for your supposed number 1
I think we are looking at this in the most dramatic way possible and should approach this differently.
I’ve rewatched a few games recently and I think JJ’s offense has stagnated. Especially where AD is concerned. They really want to get him the ball around the free throw line extended and he operates out of that area most of the game. If you look at the defense, the first few games the floor was a lot more open for him to operate and pick his spots. Now, the opposing team’s defense has converged and he doesn’t have any room to move in that area where he’s been stationed. For most of the game yesterday it looked like the Thunder were in something of a 3,2 defense and unless you give AD the ball on the wing (which they did some) there’s not much he can do other than force something up and why are half of the touches of a big man coming from the wing anyway? The defense is also sending help on that pick and roll and daring our shooters to make shots rather than give up lobs.
He’s a lover, not a fighter. But you can still feed him the ball more
Still true. That’s why Bron is our 4th quarter leading scorer.
I kinda think that’s all cool and if he wants to shift energy to be the all world defender, then that’s fire
I do think, even at this age, LeBron kind of has to be ~25-26ppg, even tho I think he’d prefer 22-23 ppg w 10 apg
Its just AD is less comfortable as a primary initator but he’s still the best player on the team
He can’t be the alpha on both ends of the floor. We want this guy to lead the team in scoring and defense.
Its not a matter of how Doninant AD can be. It’s a matter of how can he handle the stress.
Shaq had some uncanny stamina and pushed through during his lakers year.
I dont think AD has the stamina to go full send in the regular season followed by upping it in the playoffs. Dude would probably be gassed by the second round.
That being said the other part is how can his body hold up.
My main concern are players #3-15. Lebron and AD can’t play 2 on 5 for 48 min.
This is a good lesson for aspiring coaches. Don’t go on ESPN and say the dumb shit they want you to say.
Always been this way since 2020 Lebron always leads the team but now Lebron isn’t as good as he used to be.
AD definitely have the talent to carry this team singlehandedly.
But he doesn’t have the mentality to do it.
That’s a candid statement which is a good thing accountability wise. I wonder how AD will take those comments.
This is accurate. AD is a dude but not that dude
Wild. AD is a beast. Approaches ain’t always perfect, he’s dominated all the bigs.
This is more an indictment on coaching and a front office.
Its on coaching in that he’s incrementally been consistently decreased in planned usage in late game scenarios and second halves. We saw this all the time with Ham. we saw a few weeks of JJ insisting they ran more for him and it was evident in the results. Now even JJ is using him less in plays and usage in second halves and late game scenarios. Results now speak for themselves where averages and overall play are dipping.
In addition to that its on a front office who in his entire time as a Laker has never prioritized building around him and giving him the commensurate support he actually needs to thrive and flourish the most in his role. Its not appropriate to expect a guy to do 35 and 15 a game while playing and anchoring all of the team’s defense. Pelinka hasn’t done anything to give him the support AD needs so he can lighten his load more long term without burning out quicker. Its just facts. We’ve had years and years of useless backup bigs on minimum deals. This year is far from different with those same useless bigs on minimums all being hurt. What the hell do we want from him when Christian Koloko is the only one that can play the 5 too? A role AD himself isnt even optimized for since he’s best used as a 4? What about the wings or role players there to play perimeter defense and spread the floor? What about a primary ballhandler not named LeBron who has chemistry with AD to feed and set him up the way Rondo did in a year where we won a title?
Some of the only things I can fault AD for are not running the floor for transition defense and garbage free throws. There’s no excuse there. Its a team wide issue that starts with your best talent. LeBron and AD suck at these both lately.