Lakers News: Anthony "Street Clothes" Davis Is Hardly The Most Injury-Prone L.A. Superstar
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Over the last several seasons, Los Angeles Lakers star power forward Anthony Davis has seen his perception league-wide take a bit of a tumble, as the 29-year-old has often found himself saddled to the team's bench in his civilian garb. TNT analyst/Hall of Fame power forward Charles Barkley has resorted to nicknaming the eight-time All-Star big man "Street Clothes" as a result of his frequent absences. But how deserved is such a moniker, really?
During a recent appearance on NBA Today, ESPN's Los Angeles correspondent Ramona Shelburne revealed that Davis, though frequently felled by injuries, is not remotely the most oft-injured Los Angeles-based NBA superstar.
"He's played in more games... since 2019 than either Kawhi Leonard or Paul George." Davis has appeared in 138 regular season contests, Clippers wing Paul George has suited up for 133, and Leonard has been available for just 109.
This writer isn't sure why the other assembled ESPN panelists (Zach Lowe, host Malika Andrews, Brian Windhorst, and Dave McMenamin) were shocked by that statement.
Leonard has been famously injury prone ever since the fateful day he inadvertently landed onto Zaza Pachulia's foot in Game 1 of the 2017 Western Conference Finals. Leonard also literally missed the entire 2021-22 season while recovering from an ACL tear.
George has struggled through a variety of maladies, frequently involving his shoulder, since his Oklahoma City Thunder days.
That said, when framed within the context of the games these players have missed, Davis has still been absent a ton. Injuries have sidelined him for a whopping 88 regular season games since 2019.
When compared to other star big men, this is still significantly less appearances over the past three years than Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (who missed a total of eight games), Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (35 games), Miami Heat power forward/center Bam Adebayo (35 games), Toronto Raptors power forward Pascal Siakam (42 games), Minnesota Timberwolves big men Rudy Gobert (21 games) and Karl-Anthony Towns (69 games), and even famously injury-prone Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid (57 games).
When available Davis has produced in a big way for L.A. During the team's 2019-20 championship-winning season, Davis averaged 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.5 blocks a game, on .491/.330/.846 shooting splits while missing just 10 games. In just 40 games last year, The Brow averaged 23.2 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.2 steals, though L.A. itself was much less successful, finishing with a paltry 33-49 record and missing the postseason.
