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Dave McMenamin, ESPN Staff WriterOct 26, 2024, 03:05 AM ET
- Lakers and NBA reporter for ESPN.
- Covered the Lakers and NBA for ESPNLosAngeles.com from 2009-14, the Cavaliers from 2014-18 for ESPN.com and the NBA for NBA.com from 2005-09.
LOS ANGELES — After scoring at least 35 points in his second consecutive game to open the season, leading the Lakers to a 123-116 win over the Phoenix Suns and a 2-0 record, Anthony Davis was asked if he could name the two other Lakers greats to match his scorching start.
It took him six errant guesses — Kobe Bryant, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, James Worthy and LeBron James — before he got one right.
“Jerry West?” Davis asked, correctly naming the Hall of Famer who opened the 1969-70 season with 39 points in his first game and 42 in his second.
James, standing at his locker next to Davis, helped out the big man with an assist on identifying the other.
“Elgin,” James said.
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“Elgin Baylor,” Davis continued, mentioning the forward who started the 1962-63 season with 71 points in his first two games, which matches Davis’ total.
It has been an eye-opening launch for Davis, who at age 31, and in his 13th NBA season and sixth with the Lakers, finally appears positioned to take the torch as the team’s best player.
“It’s very important that he’s the main focal point for us every single night,” James, 39, said after finishing with 21 points and eight assists. “We know what he’s going to do defensively, but offensively we have to find him in multiple places on the floor throughout the whole game. And we’ve done that through two games.”
James, a 22-year veteran, isn’t exactly admitting he is slowing down, however. Look no further than his answer to being asked if he would play Saturday on the second night of a back-to-back against the Sacramento Kings as evidence.
“I plan on playing every game [this season],” James said. “We’ll see what happens if I don’t.”
L.A. clawed back from an early 22-point deficit against the Suns, with Davis, James and Austin Reaves (26 points, 8 assists, 3 steals) leading the charge.
“What he’s been doing is kind of, it’s unreal, obviously, but I expect him to go dominate the game in many facets,” Reaves said of Davis. “I’m just lucky to have him as a teammate.”
And Lakers fans, it would appear, should feel fortunate to have JJ Redick as their coach.
One would have to rattle off as many names as Davis did — Darvin Ham, Frank Vogel, Luke Walton, Byron Scott, Mike D’Antoni and Mike Brown — before mentioning the last coach to lead the franchise to a 2-0 start: Phil Jackson in 2010-11.
Redick, like the rest of the team, passed on the credit to Davis, too.
“There’s an intentionality to have [Davis] involved as much as possible,” Redick said. “We recognize what type of player he is and that he can create mismatches. … There’s a comfort level and a confidence level that he has that if the game starts getting wacky, he knows the ball is going to come back to him. … The ball is going to find him.”
