LeBron James Issues Big Challenge to Lakers Teammates

Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis is far from happy with the defensive play. He called out his teammates for playing horrible defense and he was loud and clear. LeBron James stepped in and came up with the perfect challenge for his Lakers teammates.

The four-time NBA champion and his teammates will try to build the No.1 defense in the league. They will take part in long film sessions and shootarounds. It takes a lot of practice for players to sharpen their defense. Several new players joined the Lakers roster and everyone is getting accustomed to one another.

“Our goal is to be the No. 1 defensive team in the league,” LeBron said Sunday. “And it’s going to take our film sessions, it’s going to take our shootarounds, it’s going to take the practices when we do get an opportunity to get on the floor and then the games, to continue to work those habits.

“We added five new guys to our rotation this year, pretty much, in [Montrezl Harrell], [Dennis Schroder], Wes [Matthews], Marc [Gasol] and also Talen [Horton-Tucker]. We’re all getting accustomed to one another, getting down to our rotations and what we want to build, how we build out from the paint to the perimeter, but we want to be the best defensive team in the league and tonight was a good start to that.”

LeBron James and Anthony Davis have a big challenge for their Lakers teammates

Lakers players finished the 2019-20 NBA season with the third-best defensive rating in the league (106.1). If you take a look at stats, you’d notice that the defense has improved a lot. LeBron wants more than that. He is determined to take the top of every defensive ranking and this is probably the ultimate motivation for his teammates.

Davis is not a vocal leader despite being one of the two superstars in LA. He is in his second season with the team and yes, he has embraced his leadership role. AD is convinced that his teammates have responded to his criticism. Yes, he was speaking the truth. He will always say what he feels. Davis did that to help the team. It was the truth and players accepted it. He didn’t fabricate anything. A bad defense can’t take the team to the top and everyone knows it.