Anthony Davis returned to his hometown of Chicago this week for the Los Angeles Lakers matchup with the Bulls on Tuesday at the United Center and raised some eyebrows along the way. When asked about the possibility of playing for his hometown Bulls in the future Davis replied, “I mean, I am a free agent next year … but we will see.” Then, when pressed about those comments the following day at shootaround, A.D. answered with an, “I didn’t actually say that” response.
Fueled by a third triple-double in a row from LeBron James, however–and a reserve unit featuring Dwight Howard and Quinn Cook that gave L.A. the lead in the fourth quarter–the Lakers would win their sixth game of the season anyway by beating Chicago, 118-112. After the contest, Davis–the reigning NBA player of the week–replied to a question on why he thought his comments about Chicago got so much attention.
“It’s a basketball city,” Davis said according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “You know, they’re looking for their guy. That’s all I’ll really say about it, I mean it ain’t really much. They’re a good young team right now. They’re all right.”
It’s reasonable to wonder if the response his free-agency comments received impacted A.D. on the court against the Bulls. After averaging 32 points and 13 rebounds during wins over the Grizzlies, Mavericks and Spurs, Davis shot just 6-of-15 from the floor to finish with 15 points and seven rebounds on Tuesday. His 40% field-goal percentage was the lowest of the season thus far and the first half, specifically, was arguably his worst two quarters as a Laker.
But while the free-agency chatter might have been a mini-distraction this week, the Lakers still found a way to win. In a couple weeks, we might not even remember that Anthony Davis potentially hinted at the possibility of hypothetically joining the Bulls next year six games into his tenure with L.A.
