AD on leaving Lakers: “It’s something I can’t control”

As the Los Angeles Lakers wrap up one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history and prepare for a momentous summer that could include major changes to try to get back on the championship trajectory, Anthony Davis he said he doesn’t care about hypothetical business scenarios involving him.

“I can’t control those things,” Davis told ESPN after the Lakers’ loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, which eliminated Los Angeles from play-in contention. “That’s something from above. Something from Klutch, Rich Paul. From my agency.

“I mean, my job is to go out and play. Obviously, I love LA. If that’s something they’re considering, then we’ll have a conversation about it. I don’t know what they’re talking about. What’s the plan.”

To be clear, Davis has no indication the Lakers will trade him, but as a 10-year NBA veteran, he knows how the league works. “I mean, I don’t think they’re planning to do anything [conmigo]he said. “I don’t know, man, I don’t know.”

LA traded for Davis nearly three years ago, sending Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hartthree first-round picks and two pick trades to the New Orleans Pelicans for the talented power forward.

Davis made an immediate impact in his first year with LA, playing 62 of 71 regular-season games in the hiatus-shortened campaign, helping the Lakers win the championship and finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. After that title, the Lakers rewarded Davis with a five-year, $190 million contract extension.

He has missed exactly half of Los Angeles’ regular season games since then due to various injuries. Thursday’s game against the Golden State Warriors, in which Davis will be sidelined with a sprained right midfoot and plantar fascia, will mark the 76th of 152 games he has sat out since the start of the season. 2020-21.

Davis, an eight-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA All-Star, is aware that his injury history is the only major blemish on a terrific professional resume.

“My job is to get on the court and play,” Davis said. “When I’m healthy, I’m a son of a b… But I have to stay healthy. Unfortunately, there were two injuries that I couldn’t control this year, but I’ll come back next year and see what happens.”

Davis missed 17 straight games from late December to late January after suffering an MCL sprain in his left knee. Then, in mid-February, he suffered the foot injury, causing him to miss 18 straight games.

But those injuries, Davis said, don’t make him injury-prone. Both arose from unfortunate circumstances that would have hurt any player.

“I didn’t have any injuries this year that were my fault,” Davis said. “Someone falls on my leg, sprains my MCL. Exactly the same as [Kevin Durant] had”.

In fact, Durant missed 21 straight games after his Brooklyn Nets teammate, Bruce Brownfell backwards onto KD’s left leg as he returned to defend in transition against the Pelicans and had contact with Herb Jones that sent him to the ground.

It was reminiscent of the instance this season when Lebron James tried a give and take with Davis and caused him to Jaden McDaniels of the Timberwolves fell to the ground and collided with Davis’s knee. James used a swimming motion to get past McDaniels and the Wolves forward lost his balance.

A couple of months later, Davis’ second major injury of the season came when he jumped to catch a deflected high pass from his teammate. Malik Monk and landed on the foot of the Utah Jazz center, Rudy Gobert and fell to the ground. “And then I fall on someone’s foot and twist my ankle really bad, well, my foot, really bad,” Davis said. “I can’t control that.”

Asked if the extended offseason would allow the 29-year-old Davis to reevaluate his training methods in hopes of staying healthy in the future, he responded.

“No,” Davis said. “To be honest, my training methods were top notch. I can’t control stepping on someone’s foot and I can’t control someone landing on my leg. It’s not that I’m out of shape.”

Davis believes his approach to training has only helped him, not hurt him.

“The cool thing is, what people don’t know is that the doctors actually told me you’re lucky. Our team doctor said if you weren’t doing the work you were supposed to be doing this summer, both injuries could have been worse,” Davis said.

“I could screw up my foot a lot more. Or I could have torn something in my knee. So it’s a positive for me, knowing that I put in a lot of work this summer and avoided catastrophic injuries from happening.

“So people can say what they want to say, but I know what I do every summer to prepare for an 82-game season.”

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AD on leaving Lakers: “It’s something I can’t control”