Lakers Media Day 2021: LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Top Interviews, Videos

The Lakers may have signed DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard, but make no mistake: Anthony Davis is their starting center. 

“I expect to play center. I’m not sure what’s going to happen. Me and Frank [Vogel] talked about it a couple times, and that’s the plan,” Davis said. “Right now, nothing is set in stone, but we want to see what that looks like. I’m comfortable with that. Obviously, there will be times where Dwight [Howard] or [DeAndre Jordan] might get the start at center depending on games, but I think the plan is to go with me playing center.”

Davis spent 91 percent of last regular season playing the 4, with Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrell and Andre Drummond taking up most of the minutes at center. That was the highest percentage of minutes Davis has played as the power forward in his entire career and a stark contrast from the 60 percent rate he played the 4 his first season with the Lakers.

Russell Westbrook said the Lakers have the ability to be “deadly” with Davis at the 5, and head coach Frank Vogel said to expect a split that looks much more like AD’s 2019-20 campaign.

“It’s just about what type of balance are we going to have,” Vogel said. “That’s still to be determined. I think the first year, it was a near-50-50 balance of him playing alongside another big at the 4 and then him sliding to the 5. Last year, it was more him playing the 4, with Marc, Drummond and Trez getting a lot of those minutes in there. I think we’re going to return more to the first year’s balance.” 

No Worries About Fit Concern

While age has been a major talking point, the more valid concern with the Lakers’ roster construction may be fit. Davis sliding up to the 5 will alleviate some concerns, but the Lakers’ three superstars are all average or worse at shooting from distance. Spacing could be an issue—especially in situations where floor-spacers like Wayne Ellington aren’t hitting their shots.

That said, none of the Lakers stars had concerns with how things will coalesce on the floor. 

“I’m personally not worried about trying to fit with Russ, or fit with D-Wade, or fit with AD when we made those acquisitions. I always figure it out, so I’m not worried about that,” James said. “I don’t think it’s going to be like peanut butter and jelly to start the season, but that’s all part of the process and all part of my work. I like to actually put in the work to get to how great it can be.”

Vogel and Carmelo Anthony both credited LeBron’s chameleon-like ability to adapt his game to his surroundings as a big reason they’re confident in this roster construction. 

“He can do it all and he’s willing to do it all,” Vogel said of LeBron. “That’s what we’ve seen in playing with AD two years ago as a new teammate, what he’s done with Kyrie and obviously D-Wade in Miami. All these other stars he’s played with, he’s adapted his game. He’s done whatever is necessary to win and put himself in a position for the ultimate goal. The willingness to do it is one thing, but when you have his skill set and his mind, he can do it all.”

“The way he sees the game, the way he understands how to put teams together,” Anthony said. “I’ve seen it throughout my whole career, as long as I’ve known him, he’s been able to put the pieces that he really needs for him to be at his best. You look at his teams over the years, all of the teams were a lot different. Every year calls for a different type of LeBron. We don’t know what LeBron we’ll get this year. I think that’s the exciting part of it.”

Westbrook said he understands that there may be some growing pains, but their on-court experience should allow them to make the necessary adjustments. 

“Honestly, I don’t pay much mind to it. The game will always tell you what to do,” Westbrook said. “I always believe throughout the season, it’s gonna be ups and downs. There may be times it looks like it’s not gonna work, there may be times where it’s clicking on all cylinders. As a team, you gotta understand that…it’s going to be a process. My job is to make sure I continue to just make those guys better.”

Lakers Think It’s Very Funny You Think They’re Old

The Lakers are old. They are very, very old. They have 10 players on their roster age 32 or older. This isn’t something that’s done in the modern age, where youth rules everything. The Lakers have made a conscious effort to steer into the curve and go all-in on vets, and boy have they been mocked.

The memes and jokes have been constant all summer, and the very-online-for-their-age Lakers have seen them. 

“The narrative about our age, I kind of laugh at it,” James said. “I actually really do laugh at it, I’m not just saying that. Some of the memes and some of the jokes have been extremely funny. Some of it is just trying to get people to read tabloids and things of that nature. The game is won in between those four lines. It’s not won on the bottom ticker, it’s not won in the newspaper, it’s not won on sports talk shows. We come out and we put the time in and we put the work in, we make our own narrative.” 

“It’s somebody else’s narrative, it’s not our narrative,” Anthony said. “I don’t think we would be here together, regardless of age, if we didn’t believe in our ability and what we can do. As far as the age goes, it’s definitely not bulletin-worthy. It’s funny. This is the only lane where you gotta be a certain age to be successful or be great. So we laugh at it.”

While they’ve taken the comments with good-natured humor, it’s also clear the criticism and jokes will serve as motivation going into the season. 

“I think our entire organization is motivated by that. Our team is motivated by that,” Davis said. “There’s people not counting us out because we’re the Lakers and who our team is, but they’re counting us out because we’re old. We see it. It’s fun, it’s exciting. That’s why we’re so excited to get started.” 

Lakers Feel They Built the Roster the Right Way

The Lakers’ entire offseason was built around the trade for Russell Westbrook. Some may feel they should have prioritized depth and fit and made a deal for Buddy Hield instead, but they’re banking on veteran guile overcoming any awkwardness. 

They’re also, to a man, 100 percent adamant their commitment to winning a championship will allow them to make any adjustments needed. 

“The age and experience can benefit you in this situation from a standpoint of understanding that stepping aside for a teammate, for the group to have success, is sometimes necessary to win a championship. I think the experience of our guys will help with that,” Vogel said. 

James, Davis, Westbrook, Anthony, Jordan, Howard and Rajon Rondo combine for 56 All-Star appearances. They are tied with the 2010-11 Brooklyn Nets for the most All-Star selections for a team in NBA history. 

“I do think this team has been assembled the right way, with the right pieces. It’s not just any type of players that’s meshed together,” Anthony said. “A lot of times when you put a group of talent like we have, a lot of times it doesn’t work out. I think where we’re at in our careers, understanding what we have to do, understanding all the sacrifices we’re going to have to take and make, in order for this to work, I think that’s the beauty in the actual journey we’re about to go on. The ups and downs—it ain’t gonna be great all the time. It’s gonna be ups and downs, it’s gonna be arguments, it’s gonna be fights. As long as we know what time it is, that we got each other’s back and we’re going to war with each other. That’s the only thing that matters. 

“We don’t get moments like this often, where you have a group of guys of this stature on one team that all like each other. That’s very hard to find,” Anthony added. 

Davis said the veteran voices in the locker room will help ease the leadership burden. As the only superstar in his prime on the team, it could be said—and has been said internally—that this is ultimately Davis’ team to lead.

“We have a lot of great talent on this team, lot of great leaders. LeBron, myself, Russ, Mel—it takes a group for leadership, Davis said. “I know the guys have talked to me about, ‘This is your team, we go as you go.’ Kind of the same thing we did my first year here, but I think adding a couple guys makes that job a lot easier. It takes a lot of stress and a lot of load off of one guy, where we can have four, five, six guys who do what they have to do to win basketball games. At the end of the day, we all have to sacrifice to reach our common goal to win a championship.”

Melo on Being LeBron’s Teammate

Melo might be a glorified role player at this point in his career, but it’s impossible to not find some glee in Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James coming together to be teammates. Even the most ardent Laker and/or LeBron hater has to agree this is a cool moment for the league, and even more so for the two future Hall of Famers. 

“We knew each other since we were 15. We’ve been competing against each other since 15,” Anthony said. “This is year 19 for us. That journey itself alongside somebody like LeBron, you can’t write that any better. You can’t describe that any better. It’s not just basketball, though. It’s different. It’s a different feel, a different vibe we have, it’s a different connection. No matter if I was in Denver playing or New York, wherever I was at, wherever he was at, that connection was always there. Conversations always happen. There were talks before. Honestly, I don’t think he was ready, I don’t think I was ready, at the times it could’ve happened. But here we are now. Timing is everything.”

Anthony had multiple suitors in the free-agent market but ultimately chose to head to Los Angeles after getting a call from James. This feels like a fitting capper to the two guys who came to prominence as high schoolers before becoming good friends.

Westbrook on Coming Home

Basketball fit aside, Westbrook’s return home to Los Angeles also provides some positive vibes to these Lakers. Westbrook went to high school in nearby Lawndale before playing college basketball at UCLA.

While he always dreamt of someday coming home, Westbrook said he never really felt like it was a realistic possibility. 

“There’s always been conversations about me coming home—every summer, damn near. I never really thought it would actually pull through until now. To be able to sit here and be in this Lakers uniform is a blessing for me and my family and my loved ones and the people here that support me.”