The LA Lakers have been heavily dependent on the shoulders of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. And when both of their talisman were injured in the 2020-21 season, there were always doubts on the Lakers being able to defend its crown. Davis first suffered an Achilles tendon injury whereas James sprained his ankle against the Atlanta Hawks.
Both James and Davis returned to the action but they were not at their lethal best. As a result, the Los Angeles Lakers were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs by the Phoenix Suns.
Meanwhile, Anthony Davis has had his share of injuries in the past. Davis has been troubled by a plethora of injuries and former LA Lakers legend Magic Johnson stated that the 28-year old will need to manage his injuries with guile. Johnson advised Davis to work with a physical therapist in the off-season.
Johnson said in his recent interview “First he has to change what he has been doing over the summer. He’s got to get somebody to stretch him. He also probably has to work with a physical therapist to make sure of all the injuries that he had this past season, he’s over those injuries, and it can help him during the next season.”
On the other hand, Johnson believes the LA Lakers will need to manage the workload of the players. The former great also feels that the team needs a third scorer in their team and can not always depend on LeBron James and Anthony Davis to deliver the goods for them.
“For the Lakers, yes, not load management as much, but make sure you watch how many minutes you’re playing, watch back-to-back games because he is injury prone. Before he got to Lakers, he used to get injuries with the Pelicans. The main thing for the Lakers is, we just can’t depend on those two guys anymore, we need a third scorer.”