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Even nine years after starting his NBA career, Anthony Davis is still sometimes struck by how a childhood dream unfolded.
The Lakers big man was scrolling Instagram on the bus to the arena ahead of a playoff game last season when he came across an article about teammate LeBron James’ playoff record number. He messaged James with nostalgia in mind and remembering another bus trip he took from Chicago to Akron as a teenager to attend James’ camp.
“” Seeing you for the first time, you are such an inspiration to all of us, you may not know it, “” recalls Davis wrote Sunday, sharing the post with reporters. “’And it’s crazy how it all ends now that we’re on the same team fighting for a championship.’ ”
Davis, James and the Lakers won this championship. Now with the league’s best record at the start of the season, they began to envision the next part of the dream: a dynasty.
It’s a natural consideration to get into a clash with the Golden State Warriors on Martin Luther King Jr.’s day. Although Klay Thompson’s season-ending injury took some of the tune of the game, it does come along. still like a stick transfer: the last dynasty in the NBA taking on the team that might be next.
“I don’t mean to say we’ve taken over: the Warriors have won three of four or something, so we haven’t accomplished that yet,” said Davis. “But I think the defending champions kind of live up to the standard that every team wants to become.”
Despite all the talk from the target on the back, the Lakers (11-3) looked solid in their start, despite the downside of a shorter offseason than any other team except Miami. They average an 11-point margin among the best in the NBA in their games and, most importantly, they didn’t have to extend their stars to rack up wins: no one on the Lakers averages more than 32 minutes per. match.
It’s not just this year that the Lakers expect to be in contention: almost every significant player is on a multi-year contract. Davis has the longest contract until 2025, but James and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are in place until 2023, and Kyle Kuzma until 2024. Montrezl Harrell and Marc Gasol can stay with the Lakers until the season next. The biggest question mark that remains is Dennis Schröder, who has expressed interest in signing an extension with the Lakers before joining free agency this summer.
With so many key pieces locked, it’s only natural that the Lakers’ ambitions have a longer run. Kuzma said the team is focused on the goal of winning their second championship together, which will set the stage for a special era. This group of nine comebacks now know how difficult it is to win a title – Kuzma cited the Spurs’ run under Gregg Popovich as inspiration.
“We’re trying to get to that plateau and that peak to keep winning championships – a tough and ambitious goal, but I think that’s what we all strive to do,” he said. “Seeing guys signing contracts, being part of a championship window and just trying to get there. We have such a little time in the NBA and even smaller of a window, when we talk about dynasties, for it to really happen.
The Warriors find themselves scrapped at 6-6 after an injury-plagued 2019-20 season that left them with the worst record in the NBA. Thompson’s latest setback apparently cut off their chance to compete for another championship this year, but Steph Curry is still one of the league’s top scorers, placing third with 28.4 points per game on Sunday afternoon.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr said making it to the final for five consecutive years was difficult to manage in the end, when long seasons and rising expectations began to permeate his squad. He sees the Lakers in an idyllic part of their dynasty teens while still on top of the world: For the Warriors, that translated to a record 73 wins in their second season after winning their first of three titles.
“They have the confidence that comes with winning a championship, and they don’t have the fatigue that comes with winning multiple championships,” Kerr said. “It really is a great place.”
The Lakers also seem to recognize this. James has gone to four straight finals with the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers, which may help temper the group’s sense of invincibility. Kuzma and Davis both seemed to downplay the fact that the Lakers were already in the middle of a dynasty, but acknowledged that they had the chance to create one.
Davis thinks a lot about the day he sent that message to James and the anguish he felt upon entering the locker room, fearing that his teammate would laugh at him for being “gentle”. But James didn’t say anything until the game itself, when he offered a similar sentiment, Davis said.
“It’s a pretty cool time to be able to play alongside one of the guys you looked up to,” Davis said. “Especially now for the next two years.”
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