It was a moment not to be missed – unless you’re Anthony Davis.
As an excited crowd and Lakers teammates rose to watch LeBron James break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA scoring record, the star forward leaned toward the bench in a moment that one of many cameras captured in history. was imprisoned.
James made a turnaround jumper late in the third quarter to push his career point total to 38,888, setting off a celebration that included Abdul-Jabbar, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and James’ family.
“I don’t think it was emotional for us,” Davis said of his emotions before the game. “We did our best to go out and play basketball. Obviously, when it happened, there was emotion, emotion for Bruins, our organization, our team, our fans, the world, and everybody was very happy in that moment. Coming in, we tried to keep it as normal a game as possible.
While accolades poured in for James, fans were less kind to Davis for his somewhat indifferent response at the time.
“Um… what,” Ringer found Bill Simmons, who was at the crypto.com arena, wrote.
“Man, Anthony Davis could care less,” responded WEEI host and former Patriot Christian Furia.
Of course, one video doesn’t tell the whole story of the relationship between the two stars. TNT cameras later caught James and Davis sharing a special moment on the bench.
“I love you. I just want to tell you I love you brother,” an emotional James told Davis. “I just wanted to tell you that.”
James pushed the Lakers to acquire Davis and give the franchise a second superstar in the 2019 offseason. The move resulted in an NBA championship the following season inside the Disney bubble.
“It’s been great,” Davis said of breaking James’ record and the impact it had on the team. “It’s been a big part of the team’s success, my success, a leader in all kinds of aspects in and out of the game. A great person, family people, checks all the boxes. Definitely, well deserved. .He shed a lot of tears in this game, so I’m privileged to see it all.
With Davis injured, it was difficult for the Lakers to repeat that success. They lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Suns in 2021 and failed to make the postseason the year before. It would be a dramatic change from 25-30 teams to make the play-in tournament, let alone be a threat to the top teams in the Western Conference.
James’ record-setting night came in a 133-130 loss to the Thunder, a Los Angeles team contending for a top-10 seed.
“Win the game. It’s easy. They ran the ball really well against our coverage. They made tough shots. We’ve got to win games. It’s that simple,” Davis said.
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