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LA Lakers owner Jeanie Buss recently revealed the thought process behind the Anthony Davis trade. After signing AD in the 2019-2020 season, the Purple and Gold instantly emerged as title contenders. In a segment of the Lakers' docuseries "Legacy," Buss shared how the Lakers pursued Davis. She said:
"It was a moment of truth. In order to get a great talent like Anthony Davis, you have to give up great talent, and ultimately, it was my decision to push the button."
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Davis' arrival immediately ushered in a new era for the team. With a superstar duo of AD and LeBron, the Lakers managed to rise from missing the playoffs the previous season to being the number-one seed in the West.
The team continued to ride this momentum even after the NBA moved activities to the Orlando Bubble. With the Purple and Gold winning their 17th title in 2020.
Even though the Lakers gave up Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart, Buss knew the value of what she was getting in return.
While the team won a championship after acquiring AD, they haven't been able to achieve the same quality of success since in the last couple of seasons. Davis' inability to stay healthy has become a concern for the franchise.
With the task of taking the torch from LeBron also ahead of him, the Purple and Gold will be hoping that AD can stay injury free this season.
Anthony Davis looks promising in preseason
To say that the LA Lakers' title hopes rest on AD's success is not a far-fetched sentiment. With Anthony Davis and LeBron James healthy, the Lakers will definitely be a threat in the extremely competitive Western Conference.
The Lakers will hope AD steps up this season and takes some of the burden off LeBron. This has been seen to some extent in the preseason. Davis has played two preseason games so far and looked impressive in both.
This could be a positive sign for the team moving forward as the 29-year old big man appears motivated to bring the title back to LA.
