When the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA championship in the 2019-20 season, they were considered a defensive juggernaut.
They employed a big, physical and athletic starting lineup that featured JaVale McGee at the 5, Anthony Davis at the 4 and LeBron James at the 3.
That season, Davis played 60% of his regular-season minutes at the 4, and the following season, he was at that spot 91% of the time.
Since then, the superstar big man has played the vast majority of his minutes at the 5, and he has started at the center spot so far this year.
Although the Lakers showed promise on the defensive end to start the season, they’ve regressed of late, giving up at least 130 points in two of their last three games.
After they lost to the Utah Jazz on Monday, Davis was asked about how things have changed on that end of the floor over the last couple of years, and he talked about how different his role is defensively depending on what position he plays (at 4:37).
"Honestly, it sucks. We don't want to be 2 and 8 at all… is a hard pill for me to swallow." – Anthony Davis talks about the #Lakers' poor start. pic.twitter.com/jeq26RIM4M
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) November 8, 2022
“It was a little different because I was able to roam a lot. I was playing the 4 then, JaVale was playing the 5 and Dwight (Howard) was playing the 5, so guarding the perimeter and knowing I got them guys behind me or weak side helps, getting blocks on the weak side. Now when I’m at the 5, I’m the one in action — pick-and-rolls, one guarding the post, things like that. We were flying around, we were really good defensively. We’re really good defensively this year as well. I think roles just changed a little bit as far as me as far as positions. In ’19-20 I was a roamer where I can be on whoever the 4 is and roam around and help protect everyone. It’s tough for me to do that when I’m guarding the 5.”
This season and last, with Davis as the team’s main rim protector, it has had issues rotating over to pick up frontcourt players in the paint, and in such situations, it has often found itself having a wing trying to stop a bigger player from scoring at or near the rim.
On Monday, Damian Jones, the team’s only true center who is available to play, came in for 15 minutes and did very well with 10 points, seven rebounds and one blocked shot. However, head coach Darvin Ham doesn’t seem to like the idea of playing him with Davis at the same time because it hasn’t really happened yet.
Thomas Bryant, L.A.’s other true center, is set to be reevaluated this week after injuring his thumb just prior to the start of the regular season.
