"He wants that responsibility": Darvin Ham says Anthony Davis is aiming to lead the Lakers on both sides of the court

LA Lakers coach Darvin Ham has been consistently hyping up Lakers star big man Anthony Davis ahead of the 2023-24 NBA season. Ham raved about Davis’ work ethic and leadership throughout the offseason. He also recently challenged him to start being more aggressive on offense, including upping his 3-point attempts. So far Ham’s attempts to motivate the big man appear to be paying off in preseason as Davis had another impressive performance on Sunday against Milwaukee.

Despite LA falling 108-97, Davis finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks on 62.5% shooting in just 19 minutes. After the game, Ham praised Davis once again, talking about his two-way impact. Ham said that Davis has been aiming to lead the Lakers on both ends of the court this season. So, he isn’t surprised to see the star big man dominating in preseason:

“He wants that responsibility of being the guy that sets the tone on both sides of the ball,” Ham said.

“So, he had a renewed focus all over the summertime just anytime I engaged him. As we’ve started getting closer to August, September and now October, training camp, he’s just been building and stacking days, man, getting better and better with his body, with his game. Working feverishly to make sure that he’s not just available but available at a high level, and (that) he’s able to carry a heavy load. So, in the preseason, it’s no surprise that he’s been playing like this.”

(0:54 mark below)

Following Sunday’s loss, the Lakers (2-3) have completed five of their six preseason games, with one more coming on Thursday against Phoenix (2-1). LA will then kick off its regular schedule on Oct. 24 in Denver against the defending champion Nuggets.

Darvin Ham on Anthony Davis being snubbed in annual NBA GM survey

LA Lakers star big man Anthony Davis and Lakers coach Darvin Ham

Darvin Ham was also recently asked about Anthony Davis being snubbed in the NBA’s annual general manager survey, which came out last week. Despite being widely regarded as one of the top defenders in the league, Davis did not finish in the Top 5 of the vote for best defender in the league. Meanwhile, Davis only finished tied for fourth in the vote for best interior defender (13%). This didn’t phase Ham, though, who spoke about how impactful Davis’ defense is for the Lakers:

“They’re entitled to their opinions, but all I know is he’s the heart and soul of our defense,” Ham said.

“He allowed our defense to be right there in the top three and at No. 1 in certain stretches. Once the deadline passed, those things, the polls or people, whatever opinions, there’s a reason why they don’t really attach names to certain votes, but I don’t worry about that. I know what he is, what he means to our ballclub, and who he is when we go up against the other 29 teams.”

Ham added that Davis and the Lakers just need to block out distractions and continue to focus on the start of the season:

“We just keep our heads down and continue to work and try to be the masters of our own plan,” Ham said.

Davis averaged 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.0 blocks per game on 56.3% shooting over 56 games last season.