Anthony Davis says he wasn't aware LeBron James was breaking scoring record: 'We were losing'
Lakers star LeBron James made history Tuesday night. Teammate Anthony Davis addressed observations late Thursday night that he appeared to be less than impressed when James’ moment arrived.
Davis sat on the bench as James hit a step-back jumper with 10 seconds left in the third quarter of a matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder. That bucket made James the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s nearly 40-year-old record of 38,387 points.
What was up with Anthony Davis sitting while Lebron broke the NBA all-time scoring record??? Not a good look imo. pic.twitter.com/JX7ca6QJEi
— Jared Silverman (@JaredWAFB) February 8, 2023
James, a four-time MVP, came out of the game with 38 points on 13-of-20 shooting, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals to bring his career tally to 38,390 points. The game was paused for a celebration to honor James, drew record viewership and led to Abdul-Jabbar writing about how James makes him “love the game again.”
It did not, however, end in a win for the Lakers. The team lost Tuesday night 133-130 and is now on a three-game losing streak.
After putting up 23 points and 16 rebounds in the Lakers' 115-106 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, Davis was hesitant to respond to reporters’ questions about his body language during James’ celebratory game. “I want to go back a little to Tuesday,” a reporter began, interrupted by a swift, “No,” from Davis. After some back and forth, he gave his perspective.
"It's about the game," Davis said "I mean, we're losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a game we needed. And I was pissed off that we were losing. It's that simple. It's nothing that has to do with Bron. He knows that. Everybody else is outside looking in, it's their opinion. But I was pissed off that we were losing the game."
According to Davis, he came back to the bench from a trip to the tunnel and didn’t realize that his timing aligned with James’ historic basket.
For all the internet sleuths out there who were trying to dissect AD’s body language Tuesday as LeBron broke the record, Davis said he was consumed with losing the game and wasn’t aware that LeBron was about to pass Kareem: pic.twitter.com/mkXhPPi8XP
— Kyle Goon (@kylegoon) February 10, 2023
Davis told reporters he felt bad about how things were interpreted. He said he called James to apologize the next day and then again during the walkthrough for Thursday’s game, which James missed with an ankle injury. Davis said both efforts were met with understanding from James.
Viewers were able to view an interaction with similar sentiments during Tuesday’s game on the TNT broadcast.
"I love you," James told Davis. "I'll just let you know I love you, bro. That's all I want you to know.”
Now that the confetti has settled from James’ major moment, it appears frustrations weren’t just high for Davis.
Afterward, reports surfaced that Russell Westbrook had gotten into a "heated exchange" with head coach Darvin Ham after the guard lingered on the court late in the first half after being subbed out. Westbrook was traded the next day.
Los Angeles remains below .500 and is currently outside the play-in tournament at 13th in the Western Conference. The Lakers notched a few more trades before the deadline, something fans can cling to for hope the team can get it together before it’s too late.
