“Hell no!”: Stephen A. Smith balks at Darvin Ham’s wish for Anthony Davis to shoot more 3s citing embarrassing stat 

Anthony Davis and the LA Lakers are eager to start the 2023-24 season off on a high note after the lackluster start to the season they experienced last year. With an overhauled power-packed roster and a healthy Anthony Davis, the hope is that Darvin Ham's team will be able to retake their place as one of the best teams in the NBA.

Along those lines, Ham believes Anthony Davis needs to start shooting more three-pointers.

“I told him, I want him, if he can — I know he won’t do it, but maybe he’ll shock me — but I’ve requested to see six three-point attempts a game," Ham said. "Three per half, at least. I wouldn’t put that on him if I didn’t think he was capable. He’s more than capable and I just think once he calibrates his mind to have that focus, he’ll do it. Amongst all the other things, the great things that he does.”[via LA Times]

Despite Ham's advice for the Lakers center, prominent ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith believes that Darvin Ham is out of his mind for wanting Davis to shoot more three-pointers. While speaking on Wednesday's installment of First Take opposite Mad Dog, Smith shot down Ham's plan.

"Hell no! Look man, I am a fan of Darvin Ham. Love him. Love the job he's done as a coach with the Lakers ... Anthony Davis career three-point percentage of 30% is the third worst amongst active players with a minimum of 1000 attempts," Smith said.

He further added:

"Only The Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo and DeMar DeRozan who barely, if ever, attempts threes, are worse. And you encouraging this man to shoot six a game? Come on coach, come on! No! I'm not going to side with Darvin Ham on that."

When Anthony Davis has been healthy, he has consistently proven that he's one of the best two-way threats in the league. However, only time will tell if Davis turns out to be an offensive threat from deep as well.

Looking at what Anthony Davis has said about his position heading into the 2023-24 season

In the era of positionless basketball, it isn't uncommon to see stars playing out of position. For example, in Chicago DeMar DeRozan has played the power forward position at times in lineups that see Zach LaVine play small forward and Alex Caruso play shooting guard.

In the case of Davis, he has been tasked with playing center more often than not with the LA Lakers. Despite that, he isn't too keen to continue to do so. Heading into the 2023-24 season, Anthony Davis reportedly told the Lakers that he wants to stay at the power forward position, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

When looking at the Lakers' depth chart, Davis is currently listed as the starting center. Just behind him in the rotation are the recently signed Christian Wood and Jaxon Hayes. At the same time, the power forward position sees Jarred Vanderbilt listed as a starter, with Rui Hachimura backing him up.

Although Ham could look to play Davis at the power forward spot and have Vanderbilt back him up. However, that means the team would either have to start Wood or Hayes. As such, it seems that despite Davis' desire to play power forward, he may not have much say in the matter based on the team's roster.