Lakers All-Star Planning to be 'Dominant' This Year

Will he live up to his goals?

Eva Geitheim | 4 Hours Ago

Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

In this story:

Los Angeles Lakers

Coming off a gold-medal winning performance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Anthony Davis is looking to bring the same success to the Los Angeles Lakers this season. Though Davis came off the bench during much of the Olympics, he still played a pivotal role in Team USA winning their fifth straight Olympic gold in men's basketball.

During the Paris Olympics, Davis averaged 8.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. He led Team USA in blocks per game, and recorded eight points in the gold medal win over Team France. He also shot an impressive 62.5 percent from the field.

Davis wants to play that dominant every game with the Lakers this season, he said two days before the regular season begins.

"Being aggressive every time down on the floor and dominant every game," Davis said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Doing my job, doing my part in helping this team do what we got to do, whether that's taking on the matchup defensively, taking on the role offensively, being the leader of this team, carrying us in games, playoffs, whatever it takes. ... Obviously it's a team effort in what we're trying to build, but for me personally it's taking it on myself to make sure that I'm even better than what I was last year."

Anthony Davis, coming off a gold medal summer that followed career highs in rebounds and games played, and nearly a career high in FG%, says he is coming into this season with the mentality of “being dominant every game” pic.twitter.com/ZDFrCAM5IL
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 20, 2024

Davis is entering his 13th NBA season and his sixth season with the Lakers. Davis and the Lakers have been overall successful during that time — winning a championship in 2020 — but are looking to return to the NBA Finals.

During the 2023-24 campaign, Davis made the NBA All-Star team for the ninth time in his career and his first time since 2021. He averaged 24.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game last season, and averaging 55.6 percent from the field.

Davis is coming off one of the best seasons in his career and is looking to carry that momentum into the 2024-25 season.

With Davis and LeBron James still on the team, the Lakers have one of the best duos in the league. Will the Lakers be able to capitalize on their superstar duo under first-year head coach JJ Redick? They'll get the opportunity to see soon as the team begins the season on Tuesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.