Lakers News: Austin Reaves Claps Back Against Anthony Davis Critics

Great response from Reaves, but these critics were right.

In your Los Angeles Lakers' 121-115 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers Saturday night, star center Anthony Davis scored 32 points to pace his squad. It represented a major offensive bounce back from a brutal 10-point outing in LA's previous game, a 104-101 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.  

As such, critics have come after AD for his inconsistency and tendency to disappear every couple games, playing far less aggressive whilst not scoring when he does get the ball. 

Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner Austin Reaves had a response for those critics: 

Austin Reaves on Anthony Davis going from 10 pts in a L vs. DAL to 32 pts in a W vs. CLE: "Everybody's quick to murder AD when he has an off night. ... He's affecting the game more than what the average human is picking up on"

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 26, 2023

What Reaves said is definitely true – Davis' impact as a screener, a roll man, and on defense, aren't always apparent to the untrained eye. 

Now, to that end, while AD does provide Defensive Player of the Year-level defense on a nightly basis, and is a great asset in the pick and roll, his offensive obligation is much greater than that. 

As a second option on a title contending team, his offensive output needs to match that of other second options in the league. The likes of Paul George, Kevin Durant/Devin Booker, Kyrie Irving, Tyrese Maxey, Domantas Sabonis, etc., all produce more, and more consistently than Davis on the offensive side of the ball, though none are at his level defensively (George was once, albeit playing on the wing, but he's past his prime).

While there's no doubt that AD is better overall than all but around 10 players in the league (including most of the aforementioned) his offense isn't consistent, nor good enough to be considered in the tier of the players named above. 

For this reason, the Lakers' offensive output can be low and unreliable at times, and that onus falls on Davis, being the team's second best player and being asked to be their second best offensive player, when he may not be.

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