Rich Paul tried to call him and let him know, but Anthony Davis was watching a movie in a hotel room and didn’t want to be interrupted, so he sent the call to voicemail. Then did it again. But that’s when the lightbulb went off over his head. Davis called Paul back, but went straight to voicemail.
“Me being a 26-year-old, I went straight to Instagram, and that’s when I saw it.”
Davis had been traded to the Lakers and had his first press conference on Saturday at the Lakers practice facility.
“Me being a 26-year-old, I went straight to Instagram, and that’s when I saw it.”
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) July 13, 2019
Anthony Davis says he found out about his trade to the Lakers via IG. pic.twitter.com/N9DUPJdk8F
Davis is an elite, MVP candidate level player and the best center in the game for the modern style of play because he can step out and hit the three, drive, score inside, and protect the rim. Except, Davis doesn’t want to bang bodies in the paint all the time, so the Lakers went out and got DeMarcus Cousins and JaVale McGee.
Asked Anthony Davis about how the game has evolved w/teams going small, and he was very clear that he prefers to play the 4, but he then qualified to Vogel that he’d certainly play some 5: “The game has become so positionless … it really doesn’t matter."
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) July 13, 2019
Pelinka shared that Davis said to him: “I’d love to have some 5’s that can bang with some length.” That was shown in bringing JaVale McGee back, signing DeMarcus Cousins. They want to protect Davis from banging each and every night, but of course he’ll play 5 situationally. https://t.co/PqsZZejF2u
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) July 13, 2019
Davis added he was excited to play with Cousins again.
AD couldn't be more excited to reunite with his old teammate @boogiecousins. 💪 pic.twitter.com/h32zzVO6uW
— NBA TV (@NBATV) July 13, 2019
Davis also talked about the decision to waive his $4 million trade kicker (not something Rich Paul clients often do), saying that it was worth it to chase Kawhi Leonard and, after that fell short, to improve the team.
AD talks about waiving his $4M trade kicker to strike out on Kawhi 😬pic.twitter.com/X7AT5hkWIf
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) July 13, 2019
In a West stacked with incredible duos — Leonard and Paul George; Russell Westbrook and James Harden; Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson; Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray; Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum — LeBron James and Davis are the best pairing. Whether that and the players around them are enough to win the West is a different question, but the Lakers are back on the map in the NBA in the biggest of ways.