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LeBron James defended Anthony Davis from his critics following the LA Lakers' 100-95 win over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. Davis was annihilated on opening night after going scoreless in the second half of the Lakers' loss to the Denver Nuggets.
"The King" fired back at AD's haters in his postgame interview with Jared Greenberg of NBA on TNT. Davis let his game do the talking against the Suns, finishing with 30 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, three steals and three blocks. He went 10-for-17 from the field and 9-for-10 from the charity stripe.
"We don't give a sh*t about criticism about AD," James said. "We don't care, nothing bothers us. AD doesn't care. I don't if guys have figured it out, AD does not care. He's not on social media, so he doesn't see none of the crap. He rarely talks, much less to us.
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"We don't give a sh*t about it. He definitely doesn't. He's going to do his job. We're happy to have AD."
A lot of people were critical of Anthony Davis following the LA Lakers' 119-107 loss on opening night to the Denver Nuggets. Davis was superb in the first half with 17 points. However, he dropped an egg in the second half as he went scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting.
Analysts such as Stephen A. Smith went off on Davis for his poor second-half performance against the defending champions. He pointed out AD's propensity to have a great game followed by a downer of an effort the next.
"Charles Barkley calls him Street Clothes," Smith said. "I said, 'No, I call him Six Flags.' He's a roller coaster. He's up and down. You never know what you gonna get. He'll drop 40 one game, he'll drop 11 the next like he did between Games 1 and 2 of the postseason last year."
Anthony Davis' bounce back game on Lakers home opener
Anthony Davis sent a message to his haters with his performance on the LA Lakers' home opener against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. Davis led the way for the Lakers with 30 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, three steals and three blocks.
AD kept the Lakers in the game in the second half, ultimately putting the Suns away with his aggressiveness late in the fourth quarter. He iced the game on the free throw line, going 4-for-4 in the last seven seconds of the contest. The Lakers are back on the road on Sunday when they visit the Sacramento Kings.
