Anthony Davis had a somewhat contentious relationship with Los Angeles Lakers fans during his five seasons and change with the team. Although he brought the franchise an NBA championship during his first season with it, Lakers fans often lambasted him and accused him of being lazy, soft and unmotivated.
On Feb. 1, he was sent to the Dallas Mavericks in the trade that brought Los Angeles Luka Dončić. Although Doncic himself has been accused of being lazy and out of shape, fans of the Purple and Gold have generally been very happy, if not thrilled, with that exchange.
However, back in 2021, the organization made two big mistakes. It traded three viable role players in Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Montrezl Harrell for Russell Westbrook, who never fit in with L.A. It also let Alex Caruso, a key role player on its 2020 championship team, leave in free agency, and it reportedly low-balled him during contract negotiations.
Mike Bresnahan, a Lakers analyst for Los Angeles-based Spectrum SportsNet, said on the “Lakeshow” podcast that the team’s fans are more upset over losing Caruso than Davis.
When Caruso played for the Lakers, fans loved him to the point of hyping him up in an almost comical way. In fact, during that 2019-20 season, he was fourth in fan balloting among Western Conference backcourt players, and he got more votes than men such as Westbrook, Donovan Mitchell and Devin Booker.
However, he is an outstanding defender who will sacrifice his body and make hustle plays. While he isn’t a great or consistent 3-point shooter, he can often space the floor for his teammates.
He is now seemingly on his way toward earning a second world championship ring with the Oklahoma City Thunder. His value to them has been on display throughout this year’s playoffs, and in the second round versus the Denver Nuggets, the 6-foot-5 guard even did a good job at times of guarding Nikola Jokić, the behemoth three-time MVP Nuggets center.
