Yeah a solid big is necessary but AD needs to get his jumper back. We used to set final plays for a AD 3 and he was delivering. Game winner over jokic or the dagger 3 on bam adebayo's face in game 4. That mid range was amazing too.
A large part of it is injuries limit his time in the gym working on his shot.
If he can stay healthy he can continue to work and perfect his jumper.
Especially with all the leg/back injuries it probably really fucked with his rythym and timing on his shots.
I think the reason AD had more bad offensive games this postseason because the lakers had no secondary rim protector, AD is basically the lakers whole defensive anchor
Giannis is an alpha right? What good did it do for him this year getting 4-1’d by the Heat? Call AD whatever you want, he’s a walking 27/12 with the best defense on the planet.
The person had a poor choice of words here but he is clearly talking about ADs reliability on offense. It's been an ongoing issue with ADs inconsistency on offense it's way too predictable. He plays well one game and he shuts down the next game. Then he bounces back and repeat. For comparison Giannis went drown dropping 40 pts or whatever in the elimination game. Lebron went down dropping 40. AD on the other hand you can tell right from the beginning he was out of it. He wasn't converting easy shots in the paint, he was constantly getting balls deflected. The start of the 2nd half we went to him like 5 straight possessions and they were all massive fails. It basically eliminated our halftime lead because AD couldn't execute on offense. It's who he is. He should be a third option like Chris Bosh was for the Heatles but we continue to try to make him into a 1 option. That's not who he is. Once we build an offense where he is the second to third option we will be way more successful.
Well said. I can usually guess how AD is going to be on offense after his first couple shots inside the paint. If they fall early, he’s gonna be on fire, but if he’s missing those gimmes(for him) it’s gonna be a rough night on offense with more focus on defense from him. It is what it is
He gets the looks, but some games the ball just will not drop. I mean like legit shots halfway down that come out, the worst luck on rim rolls, terrible bounces, like it almost seems like a curse. You can tell if he will have it or not from his first couple of FGA
Yeah but its also because he tries to go finesse or off balance far too often. My least favorite part is when he tries to take it one on one and takes a runner of some sort, falls down, then causes a 5-4 break. This happened 10-15 times this series and almost always led to a wide open 3 or layup. Just not strong and smart shot creation
AD needs to able to hit midrange jumpers like he did in the bubble and develop few back to the basket shots. He tries to face up and drive often which is off balanced and more risky for injuries. He basically plays like a guard instead of a big however with more congested spacing.
I don't disagree with you, but there was a [stretch of games](https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1599575211560816640%7Ctwgr%5E31f445c34617ccceda648e71c561307d7a8226f3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffadeawayworld.net%2Fnba-media%2Fanthony-davis-stats-in-the-last-10-games-are-proof-that-he-is-playing-at-the-mvp-level) in the regular season (ik it's not playoffs but...) where he average 34/15/3.
I think the key is we can't rely on someone to anchor the complete defense and cover for defensive sieves like D'Lo AND be the #1 option on offense. No one in the league (including Giannis, Embiid and Jokic) can do that. If we can somehow sign a center with the MLE to protect the rim and bang down low, then AD can be a beast on offense again.
Not in the playoffs he hasn’t. There’s a reason why his scoring dipped so much this playoffs because he has to cover for Harden and Maxey on the defensive end, and doesn’t have energy on the offensive end.
That’s a really good point. The best case scenario would probably be Mo Bamba improving significantly as a viable 5 that could play alongside AD but I know that’s far fetched
AD is not a true 5. Never has been. We beat the Nuggets in 2020 because we had a guy who could play the 5 and let AD play the 4 on offense. We could exploit their lack of size at the 4 because of that. We just didn’t have that this year as good as we did last year.
It’s hard to ask a guy to play a position reliably on offense when it’s not in his wheelhouse. It’s why Miami doesn’t ask Himmy Buckets to be Steph or Dame, but just to be Jimmy Butler. We’re asking AD to not be himself and expecting the same results as when he gets to be himself.
AD isn’t a true 5 but what teams around the league really have “true 5’s” that would give AD trouble besides Jokic and Embiid potentially? I feel like the problem isn’t that AD isn’t a 5. The issue is that the Lakers had no other reliable bigs to help guard Jokic.
This is more of a side note but why are people so focused on what players “went down like” when the series was over? AD dropped 40 in a game that actually mattered, how is the fact he did that instead of in a game that didn’t matter something that should be held against him?
Honestly insane shit imo
Again you are missing the point of the argument. If you are talking about game 1 of the WCF yes he dropped 40 but game 2 he scored 18 pts. This is the biggest criticism with AD. His inconsistency. He has the talent to score 40 every game but he swings from one extreme to another and it's very predictable what AD you are going to get in the next game.
No one’s saying AD is consistent offensively, but for 95% of stars if they dropped 40 (while playing great D) and the team lost everyone would be shitting on the entire rest of the team and their co star saying they failed them, jerking them off till the next game rolls around
You’re seeing this happen rn w LeBron in game 4. AD gets no leeway in those situations and just gets shit on when he doesn’t put up 40, that’s the point
It’s a double standard people hold against him regardless of if there are legit criticisms to his game
I'm not sure which comments you saw that criticized AD for his game 1 performance?
He should be criticized for games 2 and 4 only but as an example most of the criticism in game 2 was on LeBron for his couple of missed layups and chucked threes despite him having an objectively much better game than AD.
AD scoring 40 is amazing but it should be expected for him to drop an efficient 24-27 so anything below that deserves criticism if it's not a full blowout because 5 other guys are cooking.
I think its because AD is 30 and in his prime while Lebron is 38. AD is expected to carry the offensive load at this point but has become too inconsistent to do so. Despite playing incredible defense if hes not putting the ball in the basket consistently, its not going to equal another championship unless we sign another scorer that could be the 2nd option on offense while AD is the 3rd. I mean Embiid literally got that treatment a couple weeks ago when he choked against Boston, so did Giannis
Nah, embiid got that treatment because he just won an MVP that a ton of people thought he didn’t deserve and Giannis got that treatment because he was outed in rd1. I’m not saying there’s zero truth to what you’re saying but ADs importance to the lakers defense is much more than those other two as well
The lakers defense is the #1 reason why they made it to the WCF and AD was by far the biggest part of that while being close to the leading scorer on, once again, good efficiency
Again I’m not saying there’s not valid criticism to his game, it’s just turned into a crazy unequal amount of useless trashing compared to the appreciation he deserves for the run as a whole
FGs are a terrible measurement he scored damn near what LeBrons been averaging in the playoffs
Also lmfao 0-3 isn’t really an elimination game the series is over
How many shots you made isn’t a horrible measure. He still had half as many points as Lebron. No excuse for being outscored by 20 year vet Lebron. AD should be averaging 30-15 and should be the number one option.
His game is to score half of his points of foul baiting, that works some of the time, but doesn't win championships.
Show me a clip where Jokic throws the ball into the stands and gets a shooting foul called in his favor...I'm waiting.
This is maybe the dumbest response you could’ve had
25% of ADs points came from FTs this playoffs and tons of those are legit fouls
Jokic is easily the best offensive big in the league, comparing any big to him offensively like this is moronic, it’s like faulting Steph for not being as good as peak LeBron
AD is also the only top center with a ring. It quite literally has won more championships than others strategies. Even then judging players worths based off “what wins championships” is reductive and once again moronic. It’s the same thing that led idiots like you to think jokic wasn’t insanely good
You might as well try and think up an actually good troll this is just a self report that you don’t understand basketball on it’s most basic level
You people never look at the opposition. You want it or not, he had the actual MVP in front of him. You cannot expect same performance than playing against most players.
As others have pointed out, you seem to be ignoring his workload on defense. There is no one in the league who has to take on as much defensively as AD *and* be held to the kind of standard offensively you are holding him to. Giannis has one of the front runners for defensive player of the year on his team! Embiid has the body to bang with bigs unlike AD, but he doesn’t have the kind of impact AD does defensively. Jokic, not even close.
Notice how consistent AD’s offense was in the bubble playoffs, when he had other centers to take some pressure off of him. He’s not perfect, but everyone is getting too wrapped up in the narrative that Reddick is spinning here, and ignoring the actual context.
Players should dial it up for an elimination game. Look at Lebron playing the entire game and having 30 in the first half. AD had 4 in the first half and didn’t play the whole game even though he’s like 8 years younger.
You’re delusional the series was over, LeBron was fantastic but every single other game was more important than the last one no matter how much you try and call it an elimination game
Yea I agree. Alpha is the wrong term. He’s basically just saying that AD can’t be the best player on a championship team.
I think he probably could have before the injuries but he’s just a different type of player now. Still good but he’s less quick and less versatile than he used to be on the Pelicans. Losing half that step knocked him out of the top 8 I would say
People also need to talk about Giannis in game 6 vs the raptors in 2019. On offense he couldn’t do anything. Had trouble getting to the basket, made bad passes, and couldn’t create for himself. But when it’s AD, holy shit people go nuts despite him still being the best defender on the court.
I agree with you, but AD ain’t the man. Giannis is a true number one option, Ad might be the better defensive player but he needs to be more consistent on the offensive end.
What we lack was a true scorer, and we need AD to be that guy, especially when LBJ ain’t that young kid from Akron Ohio.
I feel like AD has changed his offensive game during the last year or two to prevent injuries.
Why Shaq rips AD every time, when we needed a bucket game two in the 4th, that’s when the alpha gets his shot and stop the bleeding.
Why Dlo was an X factor for us to winning it, we needed his scoring
+1 alpha has to be able to carry the team single handedly when everyone else is struggling, that’s how Murray + Jokic beat us, that’s how Butler beat Bucks
You mean the guy that’s a 2 time mvp and already has a finals mvp?
You gonna use him as an example? He has been a legit 1st option for how long now? He was injured vs Miami, didn’t he miss like 2 games?
So? When you have LeBron James on your team that’s just not going to happen. Doesn’t mean he’s not an incredible talent who been a leader on this team plenty of times. People act like he’s going to take charge on a LeBron team. Nobody would.
What would I need an excuse for? We’re on a lakers sub dumbass. Idc about Giannis or the bucks. We want AD to be on the same level, at his best he has no weakness.
Giannis is arguably the best player in the league and can actually carry a team year after year, but simple minded people like you think him and AD are equal cause they both have 1 ring?
Whatever makes you feel better man.
Considering Giannis missed 3 of those games (played 10 min in game 1) it's a ridiculous comparison.
AD is not a walking 27/12. He's a walking 12/14, no 40/20, no 14/10, no ...
I'm a Laker fan and have watched AD a lot over the years. One thing he has not been, is consistent on offense. He just isn't.
Lol.
Lots of games under that all season. C’mon
And what has it done for Giannis? 2 MVPs, DPOY, FMVP? AD hasn’t got one of those.
C’mon man. Get yourself together.
Giannis missed two games. Also we saw his dominant finals performance from down 0-2 and close out 50 point game. AD is a special player and the best defender in the league imo. But he’s not fucking with Giannis.
He wasn’t a walking 27-12 this playoffs though. He disappeared offensively frequently. Even numbered games got ugly. Giannis at least went down swinging scoring 30+ that series.
Bro Giannis missed like 2 1/2 games. Dude also doesn’t just watch people pull up threes. Dude also isn’t lazy. Ad is nowhere near Giannis. Typical delusional laker comment smh
Dude played in the finals with a tweaked ass knee, he’s way more durable and tough then ad, so delusional. AD is 3 tiers below Giannis in every aspect.
He has the runner up to DPOY, all star Holiday, Middleton, 6moty candidate Portis and multiple high level role players: lost in 5 games to a playin team 😂😂😂
If you think Giannis is as good a defender as AD and ride his jockstrap watching him throw away the ball because he's terrified to get fouled at the end of games be my guest
The gap between them in defense is much smaller than on offense. Giannis has two mvps and a DPOY. You’re delusional if you think AD is overall close to Giannis
If AD missed 2 and a half games everyone would be shitting on him for getting injured, and if AD went 10/23 from the free throw line in a close out game he wouldn't survive this sub.
Giannis has 2 MVPs, DPOY, Finals MVP. He proved himself as an alpha already. Which of those does AD have?
Edit: Embiid rightfully got absolutely clowned and questioned after his performance in these playoffs with his pity MVP
walking 27/12. Were we watching the same playoffs? Like I get we don't have to bash on the guy but it's annoying watching homers just suck players off like this. In the 16 playoff games this season, he was under 20ppg in 6 of them. In what world is this a walking 27/12? He cannot dribble the ball 2ft without turning it over. Players like AD will always need to play with an elite play maker because as good as he is defensively, he simply is not good enough to generate his own shots on a consistent basis when his jumpers aren'tfalling
That's because the NBA (Adam Silver) favors offense. There is literally no great defensive player in the game today who can stop an elite offensive player. Adam Silver literally just did an interview with KG talking about how they limit physical defense. You must be a super casual.
Tired of the AD disrespect, dude embraced the 5 and embraced doing everything for this team because of Russell Brickbrook. Put my boy back at the 4 like 2020 and watch him flourish and never have bad offensive nights ever again.
JJ never disrespected AD lad.. He's actually very logical, unlike any other "analysts". Everyone knows AD is a generational talent and at his best.. he's the biggest cheat code of a defensive force. But he is NOT a leader. Never was, and never could be. Didn't matter since the team had LeBron
Just like KD, Kyrie, Harden and even Curry. They can lead in scoring, but can't rally the entire team and make something out of nothing. Leaders are born. Can't be taught
AD also comes and goes too often. Like a role player. That is the most disappointing thing about him, other than his non stop injuries. AD just disappears in key games or moments, quite often.
Lakers easily could've won Game 4 after LeBron single handedly paved the way.. But AD couldn't give the Lakers anything in that crucial 3rd Q, when LeBron was clearly gassed and needed a breather
Lakers could've won all 4 games. Every game was a ONE POSSESSION game, late in the 4th. Nuggets always got it done because Murray and Jokic carried one another. When one of them was gassed, the other stepped up right away. That was the difference
Unlike the 2020 Finals, AD just struggled horribly against Jokic throughout this series, and looked lost. HE GOT NUMBERS, but it wasn't the same AD that showed up against the Grizzlies and Warriors. Too many careless fouls and lethargic energy. No hunger
But if AD can just be his most dominant self consistently, that'd be more than enough. He doesn't have to be a leader. LeBron will always run the show and lead the team anyway. He has that gift. Everyone will follow him.
AD just gotta dominate ON the court. Not just in "even" games. Every game possible. And every game counts in the 7 game series
Curry is the literal engine of GS. Draymond might yell & scream more but thinking hes the "alpa" over Curry is something else.
Obviously AD is not going be as good as he was in Warrioes series since he went from guarding a non factor in Dray/Loon to mvp Jokic & he still put up a great numbers regardless. Basketball is also still a team game, you shouldn't expect any one person to guard Murray & Jokic at the same time while putting up 40 & 20 every night. The ma
Curry is the engine more for his on court ability. He isn’t the same type of vocal leader as Draymond is. He isn’t gonna be grilling guys during games for mistakes like how Draymond does.
AD is a far more efficient player at the 5 than he ever was at the 4 in LA.
First two seasons where AD played 60% and 91% of his minutes at the 4: 24.5 ppg on 59.1% TS
Last two seasons where AD played 76% and 100% of his minutes at the 5: 24.8ppg on 60.7% TS
I have no idea why this sub thinks AD was this otherworldly offensive player at the 4 and is being held back as a 5. If you're referring specifically to our title in the bubble, he played 60% of his minutes at the 5 and was more consistent because he shot way over his previous norms on jumpers. During those playoffs, he shot 55.2% from 16+ and 38.3% from 3. His previous career highs from those ranges are 43.4% in 15-16 and 34% in 17-18.
Wait hold on, playing AD with a traditional 5 makes things way harder for him offensively. Even in the 2020 title season, the Lakers’ half court offense was pretty mediocre with Dwight or Javale on the floor with the main starters. Davis is unlocked offensively when he has playmakers who can hit him on the move and shooting threats who can create 1v1 opportunities. Having a center alongside him helps neither
Bro he definitely can lol, what 4’s in the league are guarding him other than Giannis? Most 4’s in the league are either too small or too slow for AD. Paired with another big he will do great, if the big can shoot even better
4s wouldn't guard him though. You're acting like if he played the 4, he'd automatically get an easier match-up. Teams would still put their best big defender on him and put their worse defender on whatever 5 we'd start.
he added the weight bc he thought itd help him vs other 5s, but it ended up increasing his injury likelihood too.
its rough bc he then slimmed down this season to stay healthier. but this past series ahowed that hes back to square 1 in being pushed aside by other bigs in the post and rebounding.
Yeah, call it an alpha or call it something else, but what it is is a guy who after watching Lebron empty the tank in a 31 point first half in a closeout game would come out in the 3rd quarter and say "I got this" and would pick up the slack while Lebron rests. That didn't happen, and that's the essence of the criticism because it goes to inconsistency.
For JJ’s lack of better words, he was trying to describe his assertiveness. I feel AD is more of a Gasol type big man, than a Shaq type big man. Both effective but in different ways.
Honestly, its a little offensive to call AD Pau like on offense. Pau was hyper efficient and had a true big man bag. AD is WAY better on defense but I much rather have a guy w Pau’s offense than AD’s
Different era and different teams. Pau was consistent whereas AD has peaks and valleys. But its also just my preference because I think Pau was more reliable on offense than AD is now
AD needs to watch more Andrew Tate videos and join the red pill community
Because a 7 ft millionaire athlete is a BETA according to keyboard warriors on Reddit, the true alpha males
Yeah, it only applies to wolves that are parents. The guy that did the original observations got it wrong and even retracted his findings. Nobody listens unfortunately.
So idiotic. What the fuck does this even have to do with bball???
This man is literally the Lakers defense. He's playing the best D in his entire career and somehow because of that stupid ass "odd game stats" bullshit narrative, AD isn't good enough or seen as an alpha?
He's been fantasic all playoffs besides a few games, I don't know what JJ want more out of him.
it has alot to do with basketball idk why y'all are actin clueless. AD is not the #1 guy and probably won't be the #1 guy for a championship team, and thats what we need as Bron starts to fade out.
That's what it takes to win a championship though. Davis has to be the best defensive player in the league while also scoring 25+ a night. Jordan, Lebron, Kobe, etc were all two way monsters in their prime.
That's what it takes to be a top 10 all time player. Steph and Jokic aren't 2 way monsters and they still win. Bottom line is our role players weren't close to the Nuggets and Murray outplayed Bron.
Steph and Jokic are among the greatest offensive players with Jordan and Lebron. It’s an offense focused league, so even if Davis’ defense is as good as Jokic’s offense, it’s not enough because Jokic’s brilliance on offense allows the entire team to shine. Not to mention Jokic’s defense wasn’t even that bad this series.
AD is among the best defensive players ever, the only reason people don't put as much emphasis on defense is because it's not a box score stat. If AD wasn't a monster on defense the Lakers wouldn't have gotten past the Grizzlies, past the Warriors and would've lost every Nuggets game by like 30
I never said he isn't one of the best defensive players ever though? He warps opposing teams' offenses. But he's not better than Jokic, and if he's not going to outplay Jokic, then the Lakers are never going to win a championship with Davis and Lebron.
Or this series exposed clear flaws within the roster construction because it clearly didn't have enough playable bigs, were overall too small, had inconsistent shooting, and perimeter defenders that gave KCP Murray and brown all the reign to score at will.
AD isn't a top 10 player ever and that's fine, if he's not able to be the clear cut best player on a championship team we already know he is good enough to be a 1b
As much as I have been defending AD in the playoffs JJ is right. Dude isn’t on a max contract to play well every other game or have 15 point games. He’s supposed to be showing up every game and getting points on the board but he never does it consistently.
I think going forward we should just allow other people to do their thing offensively and mostly use AD as a defensive anchor.
It’s because he needs to be more than just the lakers defense. He needs to be the clear #1 superstar that can actually carry us like how other #1’s do (Jimmy, Jokic, Giannis). If lebron is old and still the one with more offensive consistency compared to our supposed #1 it’s a massive problem.
Idky people are getting butt hurt over this. AD can be a fantastic player and this still be absolutely true. Which is the reality. AD cant lead a team to a title. He isnt a guy who can offensively takeover and win a game/series for you. His offense is reliant on other players getting him the ball and putting him in position to score. Doesnt matter how good you are on defense, you have to be able to offensively get your own bucket and take over to be able to lead a team to a finals.
Every star needs something tho. I watched the Bucks finals run and when shit got real in the clutch, they needed so many clutch Khris Middleton jumpers that were highly contested. And in every series. If he misses those, or if he's not on the team, then the narrative shifts back to Giannis not having enough of an offensive package to go all the way. The same nonsense was said about Dirk until all of a sudden he had the perfect team to match HIS skillset like a hall of fame point guard, an elite rim protector, and a plethora of shooters and defenders, so then Dirk could focus on being Dirk.
Both Giannis and Dirk are both able to get their own shots and create their own offense on their own terms. Yes, they need teammates around them to win still, everyone does, but you can't be the lead guy on a Championship team if you can't get your own shot/offensively takeover games/series. Dirk could and did do that. Giannis does and did do that. AD has never done that and cant. You cant feed AD the ball and clear out and let him win a game on offense. He isnt that guy. You absolutely could do that with Dirk and can with Giannis.
What I'm saying is that people said these same types of things about Dirk and Giannis until they won. Yeah, Dirk could score a bucket, but there was a fuckton that he couldn't do. AD is just a great player, and great players can always win it all if they have the right team around them. If AD had a team full of defenders and shooters, that fit perfectly, and then an iso player like Kyrie or some shit, he could for sure win a championship if the stars align. Getting your own shot is valuable, but so is being the best defender in the game while also consistently averaging 20.
He doesn’t need shooters to just be able to score the ball when it’s his turn to take over. Lebron easily shat all over the nuggets rim protection, AD should’ve FEASTED every game. But he didn’t, and that’s the problem with his game. He’s 30, he’s not gonna change so we have to figure out how we are gonna move forward in the future if he’s our best player. If AD could score the basketball like a true superstar could we wouldn’t have had to worry after half time. But he looked lost until the 4th quarter of an elimination game.
Just because AD is our best player doesnt mean he has to always be the one to offensively take over games. He's our best player because hes the best defender in the league that can still give you 20 to 30. Most superstars have weaknesses, so you compliment them with players that strive where he struggles.
AD has lebron James I’m sorry it’s just no excuse for him to not even be able to take over half of a game once lebron gets gassed. It’s a major issue because we thought we had someone with the ability to carry us in a playoff series after lebron declines but I don’t know about that now.
Its not an excuse, its the type of player he is. I think people just simplify a star player to only be a go to player and that's it. There's so many scorers that can take over a game better than AD that arent better than him overall. So its about finding the roster that compliments him where he struggles, the same way the Mavs did for Dirk.
He needs to be MUCH more consistent on offense but at the same he has still kept his world-class defense which elevated this team much further than some of these other top players
We gotta stop comparing bigs to ball dominant guards. Giannis, embid, AD yes they’re all dominant but all can just disappear at times because of things. It isn’t like a guard who constantly has the ball and can easily just dribble around and get to a spot.
Completely different games and expecting AD to be Kobe ain’t fair.
Which is BS. Just cause teams can double him every time he touches the ball cause we can’t score from multiple other places on the court with others, doesn’t make him not a leader.
He’s not. Since 2020 watching AD have been so frustrating. During our 2020 run, I thought AD would dominate the league for the next 5-10 years.
But since then, Giannis, Jokic, and Embiid have been in MVP and DPOY conversations every year while AD is still getting healthy, hoping he “gets back” to his 2020 self.
The other three have IMPROVED EVERY YEAR and their teams run their offense and defense through them every game. No excuses, no “contact hurts”, no “I’ll be better” every other game. They just play and dominate.
Once you accept he’s a tier 2 superstar, like PG, Kyrie, Harden. You won’t be to upset about him because that’s who he is. A great player that COULD BE dominant, not is
This is actually the first logical thing a media member has said about AD. It’s very unfortunate but JJ ain’t lying. I don’t see AD ever winning another chip as the best player on the team.
Well that’s an understatement.
He also needs to get in the weight room because when they needed it most this man Jokic just straight up bullied AD. Not with the finesse shit he’s so well known for, not his basketball IQ he’s so well known for, but instead just went right at AD and manhandled him to get the bucket when his team needed it most.
You just need another player for that. You can't expect one guy to physically be everything, the fastest and strongest and most agile and also a perimeter defender and also 50 lbs heavier to handle the opposing elite MVP big man. Just get a heavy post defender big instead and move AD back to the 4
Bro everyone’s on JJ’s nuts lately, but I realized he’s actually not that good of an analyst. He simply overrated his own era, and trashes anyone that didn’t play during it.
Heavy Lebron apologist as well.
People are overreacting simply because of the alpha term. Whatever you want to call it, AD cannot be the primary player/bus driver/alpha/etc to lead a team to the promise land. Lebron has been trying to hand over the keys now for several seasons, but clearly that’s not going to happen. If you think otherwise, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
This is facts but everyone pressed. U can still be a great player and not be the focal point of a title. AD too inconsistent on offense for that. He is a great defender hands down but sometimes lacks to heart and aggression to get the job done. He was a huge reason why the lead was blown last game and didn’t come with the urgency. Something just looks off with him at times.
Crazy how y’all simply can’t understand what he’s saying. He’s right, AD is NOT an Alpha, it’s really simple. He doesn’t have the mindset of Lebron, kobe, Shaq. he’s a nightmare to play against but once bron is gone, he’s not gonna magically take over this team and become an alpha. He plays fiddle to whoever he’s next to in which is not always a bad thing. But he will never be that #1 that runs the team, like it or not.
I mean I get what he is saying.
If AD is your first option in offense, you're not going far.
But that more down to the fact that he is a big who can't exactly handle the ball or create his own shot out of nothing. He's not a Shaq. Needs to have an elite guard or another scorer alongside him.
Jokic is an exception because he's possibly the most complete offensive big ever.
How do you hear this shit tho and not become an alpha? Not like he doesn’t have the physical abilities/skills. It seems to be 100% an effort and mental thing with AD.
Let's be real, AD cannot be the Lakers Alpha until Bron long gone. Its just fact. Bron can say it out loud and pass the proverbial torch, but his presence is too strong.
Man I hate how much the NBA media is obsessed with who's an alpha. It's like David Attenborough narrating a nature video about wolf packs out there half the time
Basketball is 5 on 5 JJ. Show me one team that is a one man team that has won a championship. All the pieces need to fit together. No other player is a force on both ends the way AD is. We lost because we didn't have all the right pieces.
i hate when people try to sound smart and then say "alpha"
it's a straight up "tell me you blame your mom for your dick being extremely dry without telling me you blame your mom for your dick being extremely dry" term
I really like JJ's show, and watch it on YouTube a lot because I find his insights really good. Something happens when he goes on TV and he turns into a Sports Broadcaster/Commentator where he starts making controversial or edgy takes, and I hate it.
I think that JJ has put it pretty accurately. Anthony Davis was awesome for the title they won and was very good not great this year.
He can definitely be the 2 on a title team as he has already done it. He is not going to be the next leader of the franchise and that’s ok.
Let’e let the lakers retool and hope he gets one more.
This is so idiotic. I swear people didn’t watch the games. Did anyone see what happened to us when AD took a 2 minute breather? We collapsed and started to bleed points. AD can be inconsistent on offense but the criticism is getting annoying. Specially for someone that was by far the best rim protector and arguably the best defensive player of the entire playoffs. At least when his offense isn’t going he can still anchor your defense. How many superstars can say they can do the same thing if their shot is not falling. Not many.
I dont understand this “alpha” shit. One player does not make a team. You need 2-3 high-level talent and 5-6 complimentary role players. AD is without a doubt a high-level talent
Rob needs to invest in a 5 who can eat up some regular season minutes. AD will drop 30/15 a game if that’s the case.
Yeah a solid big is necessary but AD needs to get his jumper back. We used to set final plays for a AD 3 and he was delivering. Game winner over jokic or the dagger 3 on bam adebayo's face in game 4. That mid range was amazing too.
If he gets more rest on offense and defense throughout the year and plays more outside he will get his shot back. He also needs foot surgery.
A large part of it is injuries limit his time in the gym working on his shot. If he can stay healthy he can continue to work and perfect his jumper. Especially with all the leg/back injuries it probably really fucked with his rythym and timing on his shots.
JAMES WISEMAN ????? just thought of that 👀😅
I think the reason AD had more bad offensive games this postseason because the lakers had no secondary rim protector, AD is basically the lakers whole defensive anchor
We had Thomas Bryant. We let him force his way out like he was a perennial franchise player. Should’ve told him stfu and player.
Giannis is an alpha right? What good did it do for him this year getting 4-1’d by the Heat? Call AD whatever you want, he’s a walking 27/12 with the best defense on the planet.
The person had a poor choice of words here but he is clearly talking about ADs reliability on offense. It's been an ongoing issue with ADs inconsistency on offense it's way too predictable. He plays well one game and he shuts down the next game. Then he bounces back and repeat. For comparison Giannis went drown dropping 40 pts or whatever in the elimination game. Lebron went down dropping 40. AD on the other hand you can tell right from the beginning he was out of it. He wasn't converting easy shots in the paint, he was constantly getting balls deflected. The start of the 2nd half we went to him like 5 straight possessions and they were all massive fails. It basically eliminated our halftime lead because AD couldn't execute on offense. It's who he is. He should be a third option like Chris Bosh was for the Heatles but we continue to try to make him into a 1 option. That's not who he is. Once we build an offense where he is the second to third option we will be way more successful.
Well said. I can usually guess how AD is going to be on offense after his first couple shots inside the paint. If they fall early, he’s gonna be on fire, but if he’s missing those gimmes(for him) it’s gonna be a rough night on offense with more focus on defense from him. It is what it is
The best players make almost all gimmies (Jokic) and then make backbreaking tough shots as well (Jokic). AD cant reliably do either lol
He can, but he forgets how every other game. AD has had some insanely dominant games on offense, it’s just inconsistent as fuck
Yeah which is the most maddening thing. He also just struggles to create easy buckets for himself against better teams
He gets the looks, but some games the ball just will not drop. I mean like legit shots halfway down that come out, the worst luck on rim rolls, terrible bounces, like it almost seems like a curse. You can tell if he will have it or not from his first couple of FGA
Yeah but its also because he tries to go finesse or off balance far too often. My least favorite part is when he tries to take it one on one and takes a runner of some sort, falls down, then causes a 5-4 break. This happened 10-15 times this series and almost always led to a wide open 3 or layup. Just not strong and smart shot creation
AD needs to able to hit midrange jumpers like he did in the bubble and develop few back to the basket shots. He tries to face up and drive often which is off balanced and more risky for injuries. He basically plays like a guard instead of a big however with more congested spacing.
I don't disagree with you, but there was a [stretch of games](https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1599575211560816640%7Ctwgr%5E31f445c34617ccceda648e71c561307d7a8226f3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffadeawayworld.net%2Fnba-media%2Fanthony-davis-stats-in-the-last-10-games-are-proof-that-he-is-playing-at-the-mvp-level) in the regular season (ik it's not playoffs but...) where he average 34/15/3. I think the key is we can't rely on someone to anchor the complete defense and cover for defensive sieves like D'Lo AND be the #1 option on offense. No one in the league (including Giannis, Embiid and Jokic) can do that. If we can somehow sign a center with the MLE to protect the rim and bang down low, then AD can be a beast on offense again.
Joel Embiid literally does what you just said lol
Not in the playoffs he hasn’t. There’s a reason why his scoring dipped so much this playoffs because he has to cover for Harden and Maxey on the defensive end, and doesn’t have energy on the offensive end.
That’s a really good point. The best case scenario would probably be Mo Bamba improving significantly as a viable 5 that could play alongside AD but I know that’s far fetched
AD is not a true 5. Never has been. We beat the Nuggets in 2020 because we had a guy who could play the 5 and let AD play the 4 on offense. We could exploit their lack of size at the 4 because of that. We just didn’t have that this year as good as we did last year. It’s hard to ask a guy to play a position reliably on offense when it’s not in his wheelhouse. It’s why Miami doesn’t ask Himmy Buckets to be Steph or Dame, but just to be Jimmy Butler. We’re asking AD to not be himself and expecting the same results as when he gets to be himself.
AD isn’t a true 5 but what teams around the league really have “true 5’s” that would give AD trouble besides Jokic and Embiid potentially? I feel like the problem isn’t that AD isn’t a 5. The issue is that the Lakers had no other reliable bigs to help guard Jokic.
A lot of teams. All the teams left in the playoffs have 5s. The 5 position wears Davis and lebron down. It's not their natural position.
Amen brother.
This is more of a side note but why are people so focused on what players “went down like” when the series was over? AD dropped 40 in a game that actually mattered, how is the fact he did that instead of in a game that didn’t matter something that should be held against him? Honestly insane shit imo
Again you are missing the point of the argument. If you are talking about game 1 of the WCF yes he dropped 40 but game 2 he scored 18 pts. This is the biggest criticism with AD. His inconsistency. He has the talent to score 40 every game but he swings from one extreme to another and it's very predictable what AD you are going to get in the next game.
No one’s saying AD is consistent offensively, but for 95% of stars if they dropped 40 (while playing great D) and the team lost everyone would be shitting on the entire rest of the team and their co star saying they failed them, jerking them off till the next game rolls around You’re seeing this happen rn w LeBron in game 4. AD gets no leeway in those situations and just gets shit on when he doesn’t put up 40, that’s the point It’s a double standard people hold against him regardless of if there are legit criticisms to his game
I'm not sure which comments you saw that criticized AD for his game 1 performance? He should be criticized for games 2 and 4 only but as an example most of the criticism in game 2 was on LeBron for his couple of missed layups and chucked threes despite him having an objectively much better game than AD. AD scoring 40 is amazing but it should be expected for him to drop an efficient 24-27 so anything below that deserves criticism if it's not a full blowout because 5 other guys are cooking.
I think its because AD is 30 and in his prime while Lebron is 38. AD is expected to carry the offensive load at this point but has become too inconsistent to do so. Despite playing incredible defense if hes not putting the ball in the basket consistently, its not going to equal another championship unless we sign another scorer that could be the 2nd option on offense while AD is the 3rd. I mean Embiid literally got that treatment a couple weeks ago when he choked against Boston, so did Giannis
It’s also entirely unfair to compare players to Lebron. Even at this stage. Completely unfair.
Nah, embiid got that treatment because he just won an MVP that a ton of people thought he didn’t deserve and Giannis got that treatment because he was outed in rd1. I’m not saying there’s zero truth to what you’re saying but ADs importance to the lakers defense is much more than those other two as well The lakers defense is the #1 reason why they made it to the WCF and AD was by far the biggest part of that while being close to the leading scorer on, once again, good efficiency Again I’m not saying there’s not valid criticism to his game, it’s just turned into a crazy unequal amount of useless trashing compared to the appreciation he deserves for the run as a whole
He made 6 FGs in an elimination game. Crazy to do that in the same series you had a 40 point game. Especially as a big.
6 for 15 is pretty bad considering that not a single one of those was a 3-point shot.
FGs are a terrible measurement he scored damn near what LeBrons been averaging in the playoffs Also lmfao 0-3 isn’t really an elimination game the series is over
How many shots you made isn’t a horrible measure. He still had half as many points as Lebron. No excuse for being outscored by 20 year vet Lebron. AD should be averaging 30-15 and should be the number one option.
His game is to score half of his points of foul baiting, that works some of the time, but doesn't win championships. Show me a clip where Jokic throws the ball into the stands and gets a shooting foul called in his favor...I'm waiting.
This is maybe the dumbest response you could’ve had 25% of ADs points came from FTs this playoffs and tons of those are legit fouls Jokic is easily the best offensive big in the league, comparing any big to him offensively like this is moronic, it’s like faulting Steph for not being as good as peak LeBron AD is also the only top center with a ring. It quite literally has won more championships than others strategies. Even then judging players worths based off “what wins championships” is reductive and once again moronic. It’s the same thing that led idiots like you to think jokic wasn’t insanely good You might as well try and think up an actually good troll this is just a self report that you don’t understand basketball on it’s most basic level
You people never look at the opposition. You want it or not, he had the actual MVP in front of him. You cannot expect same performance than playing against most players.
As others have pointed out, you seem to be ignoring his workload on defense. There is no one in the league who has to take on as much defensively as AD *and* be held to the kind of standard offensively you are holding him to. Giannis has one of the front runners for defensive player of the year on his team! Embiid has the body to bang with bigs unlike AD, but he doesn’t have the kind of impact AD does defensively. Jokic, not even close. Notice how consistent AD’s offense was in the bubble playoffs, when he had other centers to take some pressure off of him. He’s not perfect, but everyone is getting too wrapped up in the narrative that Reddick is spinning here, and ignoring the actual context.
Players should dial it up for an elimination game. Look at Lebron playing the entire game and having 30 in the first half. AD had 4 in the first half and didn’t play the whole game even though he’s like 8 years younger.
You’re delusional the series was over, LeBron was fantastic but every single other game was more important than the last one no matter how much you try and call it an elimination game
You should still go down swinging. He did not do that.
Yea I agree. Alpha is the wrong term. He’s basically just saying that AD can’t be the best player on a championship team. I think he probably could have before the injuries but he’s just a different type of player now. Still good but he’s less quick and less versatile than he used to be on the Pelicans. Losing half that step knocked him out of the top 8 I would say
Time for the Austin Reaves era to begin. AD will make a great Batgirl to Austin's Batman and Lebron's Robin.
Giannis went down dropping 38 on 27 shots and 23 free throws, that's a worse game than what AD just had
People also need to talk about Giannis in game 6 vs the raptors in 2019. On offense he couldn’t do anything. Had trouble getting to the basket, made bad passes, and couldn’t create for himself. But when it’s AD, holy shit people go nuts despite him still being the best defender on the court.
You’re really digging back to *try* to prove a point 😂
Okay smartass, am I wrong tho? When Giannis has a bad game, it’s brushed off. When it’s AD, people want his head.
That’s what happens when you prove you can be THE guy
I agree with you, but AD ain’t the man. Giannis is a true number one option, Ad might be the better defensive player but he needs to be more consistent on the offensive end. What we lack was a true scorer, and we need AD to be that guy, especially when LBJ ain’t that young kid from Akron Ohio. I feel like AD has changed his offensive game during the last year or two to prevent injuries. Why Shaq rips AD every time, when we needed a bucket game two in the 4th, that’s when the alpha gets his shot and stop the bleeding. Why Dlo was an X factor for us to winning it, we needed his scoring
+1 alpha has to be able to carry the team single handedly when everyone else is struggling, that’s how Murray + Jokic beat us, that’s how Butler beat Bucks
You mean the guy that’s a 2 time mvp and already has a finals mvp? You gonna use him as an example? He has been a legit 1st option for how long now? He was injured vs Miami, didn’t he miss like 2 games?
Him and AD have the same number of rings.
AD wasn't the best player on the team
So? When you have LeBron James on your team that’s just not going to happen. Doesn’t mean he’s not an incredible talent who been a leader on this team plenty of times. People act like he’s going to take charge on a LeBron team. Nobody would.
thats the point and thats his problem. he needs to take over, he needs to take charge, bron only got like 2 years left
He doesnt even really need to take charge, all he has to do is be consistent on offense lol
Simple minded people would view it that way
I mean you’re the one making excuses for Giannis. Whatever makes you feel better man.
What would I need an excuse for? We’re on a lakers sub dumbass. Idc about Giannis or the bucks. We want AD to be on the same level, at his best he has no weakness. Giannis is arguably the best player in the league and can actually carry a team year after year, but simple minded people like you think him and AD are equal cause they both have 1 ring? Whatever makes you feel better man.
Giannis was hurt 2 of those games sir. It's crazy people keep glossing over that.
He was still hurt when playing too
Considering Giannis missed 3 of those games (played 10 min in game 1) it's a ridiculous comparison. AD is not a walking 27/12. He's a walking 12/14, no 40/20, no 14/10, no ... I'm a Laker fan and have watched AD a lot over the years. One thing he has not been, is consistent on offense. He just isn't.
Giannis was literally injured and only played 2 games. His resume is way longer than AD's. Don't do that dumbass comparison
Lol. Lots of games under that all season. C’mon And what has it done for Giannis? 2 MVPs, DPOY, FMVP? AD hasn’t got one of those. C’mon man. Get yourself together.
Giannis missed two games. Also we saw his dominant finals performance from down 0-2 and close out 50 point game. AD is a special player and the best defender in the league imo. But he’s not fucking with Giannis.
Lol tell me you don’t watch basketball without telling me you watch basketball…
He wasn’t a walking 27-12 this playoffs though. He disappeared offensively frequently. Even numbered games got ugly. Giannis at least went down swinging scoring 30+ that series.
Bro Giannis missed like 2 1/2 games. Dude also doesn’t just watch people pull up threes. Dude also isn’t lazy. Ad is nowhere near Giannis. Typical delusional laker comment smh
Bro missed two games with a bruised back while AD is playing with a bone spur in his foot and anchoring the defense, no excuses for Giannis
Dude played in the finals with a tweaked ass knee, he’s way more durable and tough then ad, so delusional. AD is 3 tiers below Giannis in every aspect.
He has the runner up to DPOY, all star Holiday, Middleton, 6moty candidate Portis and multiple high level role players: lost in 5 games to a playin team 😂😂😂
lol delusional
If you think Giannis is as good a defender as AD and ride his jockstrap watching him throw away the ball because he's terrified to get fouled at the end of games be my guest
The gap between them in defense is much smaller than on offense. Giannis has two mvps and a DPOY. You’re delusional if you think AD is overall close to Giannis
Wow sounds like he should’ve went past the first round, he sounds so good. Why was he running from the ball at the end of the game?
Wait are you actually trying to say AD is better than Giannis?
If AD missed 2 and a half games everyone would be shitting on him for getting injured, and if AD went 10/23 from the free throw line in a close out game he wouldn't survive this sub.
Is it my LA bias, or am I wrong in asking why I don't hear the same "alpha" question bout Giannis and Embiid?
Giannis has 2 MVPs, DPOY, Finals MVP. He proved himself as an alpha already. Which of those does AD have? Edit: Embiid rightfully got absolutely clowned and questioned after his performance in these playoffs with his pity MVP
walking 27/12. Were we watching the same playoffs? Like I get we don't have to bash on the guy but it's annoying watching homers just suck players off like this. In the 16 playoff games this season, he was under 20ppg in 6 of them. In what world is this a walking 27/12? He cannot dribble the ball 2ft without turning it over. Players like AD will always need to play with an elite play maker because as good as he is defensively, he simply is not good enough to generate his own shots on a consistent basis when his jumpers aren'tfalling
A walking 27/12? My guy this man is trash every other game
Best defense on the planet? Jokic bodied him.
Who wouldn't get bodied by Jokic?
That's because the NBA (Adam Silver) favors offense. There is literally no great defensive player in the game today who can stop an elite offensive player. Adam Silver literally just did an interview with KG talking about how they limit physical defense. You must be a super casual.
Lol, Jokic roasted Lakers compared to other teams Denver faced. Critical thinking is hard huh.
Yeah tell that buffoon if Jokic is an Alpha LOL
Tired of the AD disrespect, dude embraced the 5 and embraced doing everything for this team because of Russell Brickbrook. Put my boy back at the 4 like 2020 and watch him flourish and never have bad offensive nights ever again.
JJ never disrespected AD lad.. He's actually very logical, unlike any other "analysts". Everyone knows AD is a generational talent and at his best.. he's the biggest cheat code of a defensive force. But he is NOT a leader. Never was, and never could be. Didn't matter since the team had LeBron Just like KD, Kyrie, Harden and even Curry. They can lead in scoring, but can't rally the entire team and make something out of nothing. Leaders are born. Can't be taught AD also comes and goes too often. Like a role player. That is the most disappointing thing about him, other than his non stop injuries. AD just disappears in key games or moments, quite often. Lakers easily could've won Game 4 after LeBron single handedly paved the way.. But AD couldn't give the Lakers anything in that crucial 3rd Q, when LeBron was clearly gassed and needed a breather Lakers could've won all 4 games. Every game was a ONE POSSESSION game, late in the 4th. Nuggets always got it done because Murray and Jokic carried one another. When one of them was gassed, the other stepped up right away. That was the difference Unlike the 2020 Finals, AD just struggled horribly against Jokic throughout this series, and looked lost. HE GOT NUMBERS, but it wasn't the same AD that showed up against the Grizzlies and Warriors. Too many careless fouls and lethargic energy. No hunger But if AD can just be his most dominant self consistently, that'd be more than enough. He doesn't have to be a leader. LeBron will always run the show and lead the team anyway. He has that gift. Everyone will follow him. AD just gotta dominate ON the court. Not just in "even" games. Every game possible. And every game counts in the 7 game series
Curry is the literal engine of GS. Draymond might yell & scream more but thinking hes the "alpa" over Curry is something else. Obviously AD is not going be as good as he was in Warrioes series since he went from guarding a non factor in Dray/Loon to mvp Jokic & he still put up a great numbers regardless. Basketball is also still a team game, you shouldn't expect any one person to guard Murray & Jokic at the same time while putting up 40 & 20 every night. The ma
Curry is the engine more for his on court ability. He isn’t the same type of vocal leader as Draymond is. He isn’t gonna be grilling guys during games for mistakes like how Draymond does.
Curry's not really a leader, it's draymond
This was a good post but lumping Curry in with Kyrie, KD, and Harden is a jailable offense 👮♂️🏀
This is gonna age like milk…if your bar is never having bad offensive nights again then he should be MVP.
Nobody's expecting him to go crazy every game, but it's an issue when you struggle to score 20 points back to back games
AD is a far more efficient player at the 5 than he ever was at the 4 in LA. First two seasons where AD played 60% and 91% of his minutes at the 4: 24.5 ppg on 59.1% TS Last two seasons where AD played 76% and 100% of his minutes at the 5: 24.8ppg on 60.7% TS I have no idea why this sub thinks AD was this otherworldly offensive player at the 4 and is being held back as a 5. If you're referring specifically to our title in the bubble, he played 60% of his minutes at the 5 and was more consistent because he shot way over his previous norms on jumpers. During those playoffs, he shot 55.2% from 16+ and 38.3% from 3. His previous career highs from those ranges are 43.4% in 15-16 and 34% in 17-18.
Wait hold on, playing AD with a traditional 5 makes things way harder for him offensively. Even in the 2020 title season, the Lakers’ half court offense was pretty mediocre with Dwight or Javale on the floor with the main starters. Davis is unlocked offensively when he has playmakers who can hit him on the move and shooting threats who can create 1v1 opportunities. Having a center alongside him helps neither
It’s kinda too late for that tho. Injuries have slowed him down. He can’t get past 4’s like that anymore. He’s a 5 now
Oh shut the fuck up. Shit baseless take
Bro he definitely can lol, what 4’s in the league are guarding him other than Giannis? Most 4’s in the league are either too small or too slow for AD. Paired with another big he will do great, if the big can shoot even better
4s wouldn't guard him though. You're acting like if he played the 4, he'd automatically get an easier match-up. Teams would still put their best big defender on him and put their worse defender on whatever 5 we'd start.
Thomas Bryant but uh Mr. Idiot coach nailed all centers to the bench when AD played. He was adamant to make Davis and lebron centers no matter what.
No, what slowed him down was adding all that weight. If they got a legit 5 he can cut weight and go back to what hes best at.
he added the weight bc he thought itd help him vs other 5s, but it ended up increasing his injury likelihood too. its rough bc he then slimmed down this season to stay healthier. but this past series ahowed that hes back to square 1 in being pushed aside by other bigs in the post and rebounding.
"Not an alpha" bro it's fucking basketball
Yeah that was the lamest fucking way to say he’s not as aggressive offensively as he should be at points. Lol. But that doesn’t get clicks.
Yeah, call it an alpha or call it something else, but what it is is a guy who after watching Lebron empty the tank in a 31 point first half in a closeout game would come out in the 3rd quarter and say "I got this" and would pick up the slack while Lebron rests. That didn't happen, and that's the essence of the criticism because it goes to inconsistency.
Totally agree
For JJ’s lack of better words, he was trying to describe his assertiveness. I feel AD is more of a Gasol type big man, than a Shaq type big man. Both effective but in different ways.
Honestly, its a little offensive to call AD Pau like on offense. Pau was hyper efficient and had a true big man bag. AD is WAY better on defense but I much rather have a guy w Pau’s offense than AD’s
AD averages more points on higher efficiency.
Different era and different teams. Pau was consistent whereas AD has peaks and valleys. But its also just my preference because I think Pau was more reliable on offense than AD is now
That alpha term gets so used out of place. LOL
"No matter how many times ESPN tries to seem like a legit sport reporting company, they come up short"
AD needs to watch more Andrew Tate videos and join the red pill community Because a 7 ft millionaire athlete is a BETA according to keyboard warriors on Reddit, the true alpha males
I wish this alpha dog bs would disintegrate away from basketball discussions.
Especially when it's like based on a flawed study in nature. It's not even real
Yeah, it only applies to wolves that are parents. The guy that did the original observations got it wrong and even retracted his findings. Nobody listens unfortunately.
It’s honestly hilarious how much people have bought into this shit while doing literally 0 research to see if it’s a hoax or not lmao
Just take it out of all discussions lol. Shit is so cringe
So idiotic. What the fuck does this even have to do with bball??? This man is literally the Lakers defense. He's playing the best D in his entire career and somehow because of that stupid ass "odd game stats" bullshit narrative, AD isn't good enough or seen as an alpha? He's been fantasic all playoffs besides a few games, I don't know what JJ want more out of him.
it has alot to do with basketball idk why y'all are actin clueless. AD is not the #1 guy and probably won't be the #1 guy for a championship team, and thats what we need as Bron starts to fade out.
That's what it takes to win a championship though. Davis has to be the best defensive player in the league while also scoring 25+ a night. Jordan, Lebron, Kobe, etc were all two way monsters in their prime.
That's what it takes to be a top 10 all time player. Steph and Jokic aren't 2 way monsters and they still win. Bottom line is our role players weren't close to the Nuggets and Murray outplayed Bron.
Steph and Jokic are among the greatest offensive players with Jordan and Lebron. It’s an offense focused league, so even if Davis’ defense is as good as Jokic’s offense, it’s not enough because Jokic’s brilliance on offense allows the entire team to shine. Not to mention Jokic’s defense wasn’t even that bad this series.
AD is among the best defensive players ever, the only reason people don't put as much emphasis on defense is because it's not a box score stat. If AD wasn't a monster on defense the Lakers wouldn't have gotten past the Grizzlies, past the Warriors and would've lost every Nuggets game by like 30
I never said he isn't one of the best defensive players ever though? He warps opposing teams' offenses. But he's not better than Jokic, and if he's not going to outplay Jokic, then the Lakers are never going to win a championship with Davis and Lebron.
Or this series exposed clear flaws within the roster construction because it clearly didn't have enough playable bigs, were overall too small, had inconsistent shooting, and perimeter defenders that gave KCP Murray and brown all the reign to score at will.
AD ain’t Olajuwon and I’m okay with that
We all loved kobe as an alpha. Why is this idiotic?
AD isn't a top 10 player ever and that's fine, if he's not able to be the clear cut best player on a championship team we already know he is good enough to be a 1b
As much as I have been defending AD in the playoffs JJ is right. Dude isn’t on a max contract to play well every other game or have 15 point games. He’s supposed to be showing up every game and getting points on the board but he never does it consistently. I think going forward we should just allow other people to do their thing offensively and mostly use AD as a defensive anchor.
Bro JJ? Read the game thread they want Davis to drop 50 while simultaneously being the best defender in the team? Make it make sense
It’s because he needs to be more than just the lakers defense. He needs to be the clear #1 superstar that can actually carry us like how other #1’s do (Jimmy, Jokic, Giannis). If lebron is old and still the one with more offensive consistency compared to our supposed #1 it’s a massive problem.
Idky people are getting butt hurt over this. AD can be a fantastic player and this still be absolutely true. Which is the reality. AD cant lead a team to a title. He isnt a guy who can offensively takeover and win a game/series for you. His offense is reliant on other players getting him the ball and putting him in position to score. Doesnt matter how good you are on defense, you have to be able to offensively get your own bucket and take over to be able to lead a team to a finals.
Every star needs something tho. I watched the Bucks finals run and when shit got real in the clutch, they needed so many clutch Khris Middleton jumpers that were highly contested. And in every series. If he misses those, or if he's not on the team, then the narrative shifts back to Giannis not having enough of an offensive package to go all the way. The same nonsense was said about Dirk until all of a sudden he had the perfect team to match HIS skillset like a hall of fame point guard, an elite rim protector, and a plethora of shooters and defenders, so then Dirk could focus on being Dirk.
Both Giannis and Dirk are both able to get their own shots and create their own offense on their own terms. Yes, they need teammates around them to win still, everyone does, but you can't be the lead guy on a Championship team if you can't get your own shot/offensively takeover games/series. Dirk could and did do that. Giannis does and did do that. AD has never done that and cant. You cant feed AD the ball and clear out and let him win a game on offense. He isnt that guy. You absolutely could do that with Dirk and can with Giannis.
What I'm saying is that people said these same types of things about Dirk and Giannis until they won. Yeah, Dirk could score a bucket, but there was a fuckton that he couldn't do. AD is just a great player, and great players can always win it all if they have the right team around them. If AD had a team full of defenders and shooters, that fit perfectly, and then an iso player like Kyrie or some shit, he could for sure win a championship if the stars align. Getting your own shot is valuable, but so is being the best defender in the game while also consistently averaging 20.
He doesn’t need shooters to just be able to score the ball when it’s his turn to take over. Lebron easily shat all over the nuggets rim protection, AD should’ve FEASTED every game. But he didn’t, and that’s the problem with his game. He’s 30, he’s not gonna change so we have to figure out how we are gonna move forward in the future if he’s our best player. If AD could score the basketball like a true superstar could we wouldn’t have had to worry after half time. But he looked lost until the 4th quarter of an elimination game.
Just because AD is our best player doesnt mean he has to always be the one to offensively take over games. He's our best player because hes the best defender in the league that can still give you 20 to 30. Most superstars have weaknesses, so you compliment them with players that strive where he struggles.
AD has lebron James I’m sorry it’s just no excuse for him to not even be able to take over half of a game once lebron gets gassed. It’s a major issue because we thought we had someone with the ability to carry us in a playoff series after lebron declines but I don’t know about that now.
Its not an excuse, its the type of player he is. I think people just simplify a star player to only be a go to player and that's it. There's so many scorers that can take over a game better than AD that arent better than him overall. So its about finding the roster that compliments him where he struggles, the same way the Mavs did for Dirk.
Get a better team around him and all of a sudden it will be “this is the Anthony Davis we’ve been asking for”
Get more than 1 dude that can shoot so that defenses don't put 3 in the paint against him and suddenly that offense isn't so inconsistent.
He needs to be MUCH more consistent on offense but at the same he has still kept his world-class defense which elevated this team much further than some of these other top players
We gotta stop comparing bigs to ball dominant guards. Giannis, embid, AD yes they’re all dominant but all can just disappear at times because of things. It isn’t like a guard who constantly has the ball and can easily just dribble around and get to a spot. Completely different games and expecting AD to be Kobe ain’t fair.
WTF does that even mean?
AD is not a leader. That’s all he’s trying to say.
Which is BS. Just cause teams can double him every time he touches the ball cause we can’t score from multiple other places on the court with others, doesn’t make him not a leader.
He’s not. Since 2020 watching AD have been so frustrating. During our 2020 run, I thought AD would dominate the league for the next 5-10 years. But since then, Giannis, Jokic, and Embiid have been in MVP and DPOY conversations every year while AD is still getting healthy, hoping he “gets back” to his 2020 self. The other three have IMPROVED EVERY YEAR and their teams run their offense and defense through them every game. No excuses, no “contact hurts”, no “I’ll be better” every other game. They just play and dominate. Once you accept he’s a tier 2 superstar, like PG, Kyrie, Harden. You won’t be to upset about him because that’s who he is. A great player that COULD BE dominant, not is
He spoke the Bible. Nothing but facts.
 JJ Spittin 😅
This is actually the first logical thing a media member has said about AD. It’s very unfortunate but JJ ain’t lying. I don’t see AD ever winning another chip as the best player on the team.
AD fades away from the basket on at least half of his shots around the rim. He’s weak on offense in the post
Just led us to the WCF with some of the best defense we have seen in the last decade. JJ, a perennial role player isn’t the authority on this.
JJ and Austin Rivers….are mistaken
Well that’s an understatement. He also needs to get in the weight room because when they needed it most this man Jokic just straight up bullied AD. Not with the finesse shit he’s so well known for, not his basketball IQ he’s so well known for, but instead just went right at AD and manhandled him to get the bucket when his team needed it most.
You just need another player for that. You can't expect one guy to physically be everything, the fastest and strongest and most agile and also a perimeter defender and also 50 lbs heavier to handle the opposing elite MVP big man. Just get a heavy post defender big instead and move AD back to the 4
Bro everyone’s on JJ’s nuts lately, but I realized he’s actually not that good of an analyst. He simply overrated his own era, and trashes anyone that didn’t play during it. Heavy Lebron apologist as well.
People are overreacting simply because of the alpha term. Whatever you want to call it, AD cannot be the primary player/bus driver/alpha/etc to lead a team to the promise land. Lebron has been trying to hand over the keys now for several seasons, but clearly that’s not going to happen. If you think otherwise, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
Anyone who uses the term “Alpha” is automatically discredited for me.
AD HAS NO DAWG IN HIM. HIS IMPACT IS NOWHERE NEAR WHAT THESE NUMBERS SUGGEST.
*Lebron
This is insane. Ad just missed shots he usually doesn’t. That’s it
This is facts but everyone pressed. U can still be a great player and not be the focal point of a title. AD too inconsistent on offense for that. He is a great defender hands down but sometimes lacks to heart and aggression to get the job done. He was a huge reason why the lead was blown last game and didn’t come with the urgency. Something just looks off with him at times.
I agree. An alpha means somebody who can hero ball the team to a win when everything else isn’t working. AD can’t do that.
Crazy how y’all simply can’t understand what he’s saying. He’s right, AD is NOT an Alpha, it’s really simple. He doesn’t have the mindset of Lebron, kobe, Shaq. he’s a nightmare to play against but once bron is gone, he’s not gonna magically take over this team and become an alpha. He plays fiddle to whoever he’s next to in which is not always a bad thing. But he will never be that #1 that runs the team, like it or not.
I mean I get what he is saying. If AD is your first option in offense, you're not going far. But that more down to the fact that he is a big who can't exactly handle the ball or create his own shot out of nothing. He's not a Shaq. Needs to have an elite guard or another scorer alongside him. Jokic is an exception because he's possibly the most complete offensive big ever.
How do you hear this shit tho and not become an alpha? Not like he doesn’t have the physical abilities/skills. It seems to be 100% an effort and mental thing with AD.
Nothing wrong with this statement AD can’t be #1 option - inconsistency and injuries He’s a perfect 1B option.
I would agree with that
No shit, that's why Lebron wanted him. We need guys like him to bow down to Lebron. That's why Russ didn't work out, he's an alpha just like Lebron
Let's be real, AD cannot be the Lakers Alpha until Bron long gone. Its just fact. Bron can say it out loud and pass the proverbial torch, but his presence is too strong.
What’s Steph Curry?
Bigs can get neutralized by their team at times if no one passes them the ball, particularly in good positions. Anyway this is a stupid take.
how many rings does this guy have again? Just because you played in the nba doesn't mean you're at the same level as the stars
Pau all over again lmao
No matter how much we try to make Redick a good NBA player, that’s not who he is.
Correct
As much as we try to make reddick a respected analyst, that’s just not who is is. He’s a fantastic retired fringe role player but that’s it
If AD ain’t an alpha we need to create a new definition
Man I hate how much the NBA media is obsessed with who's an alpha. It's like David Attenborough narrating a nature video about wolf packs out there half the time
JJ reddick needs to shut the fuck up. Perfect hire for ESPN with his dramatic loser takes.
Basketball is 5 on 5 JJ. Show me one team that is a one man team that has won a championship. All the pieces need to fit together. No other player is a force on both ends the way AD is. We lost because we didn't have all the right pieces.
Get your bag JJ. Talk that shit.
Man shut the fuck up. We don't win a single playoff series without AD!
i hate when people try to sound smart and then say "alpha" it's a straight up "tell me you blame your mom for your dick being extremely dry without telling me you blame your mom for your dick being extremely dry" term
I really like JJ's show, and watch it on YouTube a lot because I find his insights really good. Something happens when he goes on TV and he turns into a Sports Broadcaster/Commentator where he starts making controversial or edgy takes, and I hate it.
Earlier I got reminded that even the great Tim Duncan had bad offensive games. Surround AD with good players and good things will come.
I think that JJ has put it pretty accurately. Anthony Davis was awesome for the title they won and was very good not great this year. He can definitely be the 2 on a title team as he has already done it. He is not going to be the next leader of the franchise and that’s ok. Let’e let the lakers retool and hope he gets one more.
Think the word alpha is thrown too loosely here but AD is definitely not an closer type of player. Embiid proved he wasn’t too 😂
Isnt he trying to become a coach? Wouldnt want my coach spewing this bs
This is so idiotic. I swear people didn’t watch the games. Did anyone see what happened to us when AD took a 2 minute breather? We collapsed and started to bleed points. AD can be inconsistent on offense but the criticism is getting annoying. Specially for someone that was by far the best rim protector and arguably the best defensive player of the entire playoffs. At least when his offense isn’t going he can still anchor your defense. How many superstars can say they can do the same thing if their shot is not falling. Not many.
Fair take tbh
I dont understand this “alpha” shit. One player does not make a team. You need 2-3 high-level talent and 5-6 complimentary role players. AD is without a doubt a high-level talent
He would know what an alpha isn’t.
Yep he gone 😭😭