<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-anthony-davis-lebron-james-warriors-trade-rumors-strange');   ga('set', 'title', 'Anthony Davis gives LeBron James to Warriors trade rumors ‘strange’ label');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Anthony-Davis-gives-LeBron-James-Warriors-trade-rumors-strange-label.jpg"></figure><h1>Anthony Davis gives LeBron James to Warriors trade rumors ‘strange’ label</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-15T12:29:40-07:00">October 15th, 12:29pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-15T12:29:40-07:00">October 15th, 12:29pm</time><address><a>Jaren Kawada</a>Jaren Kawada is a former full-time sports bettor and is now a NFL, College Football and Betting Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. Kawada was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, but now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, after graduating from Butler University with a B.A. in sports media. Aside from football, Kawada is an avid combat sports and basketball bettor.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Anthony Davis recalls when the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/warriors-news-golden-state-made-shocking-effort-to-pull-off-lebron-james-trade-prior-to-deadline">Los Angeles Lakers nearly went through a wholesale change</a> at the 2023-2024 trade deadline that would have shaken up the entire league. The near-trade started with a rumor and ended with the Golden State Warriors attempting to send in an offer for LeBron James.</p><p>As the 2024-2025 season inches closer, Davis reflected on <a href="https://x.com/mcten/status/1846253120617435317" rel="noopener">the moment that he called “strange.”</a> The 31-year-old said that nothing about the rumor affected the team and was a mere abnormal afterthought for most of the players.</p><p>“I can’t remember how I heard about it, I think my dad called me,” Davis said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “I don’t think it affected anything [but] I think that might’ve been the first time that [LeBron James has] been in trade talks in his career. That didn’t affect our team. It was definitely strange to hear in the sense of it was the first time he was talked about in a trade before.”</p><p>The rumors were confirmed when ESPN reported that the Warriors went all-in on pursuing the trade at the deadline but were shut down by both <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-rich-pauls-role-in-scrapping-lakers-warriors-lebron-james-trade-talks">Rob Pelinka and James’ agent, Rich Paul</a>. Golden State owner Joe Lacob reportedly reached out to Lakers owner Jeanie Buss to inquire about James’ availability before general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. took over.</p><p>James had no desire to leave Los Angeles and ended the season with Davis on the Lakers. In the offseason, the team selected his son, Bronny James, with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, effectively guaranteeing that he would remain with the team for the rest of his career.</p><h2>Anthony Davis prepares to enter sixth season with Lakers</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Anthony-Davis_2045bd.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Entering his 13th year in the NBA, Anthony Davis is gearing up for his sixth season with the Lakers in 2024-2025. Davis is coming off arguably his best season with the team, appearing in a career-high 76 regular season games.</p><p>Davis’ health has been a major storyline throughout his career, having never played a full 82-game season. His 76 games in his fifth season with the Lakers marked the first time he appeared in over 60 games since his first year with the team in 2019-2020.</p><p>Ahead of the upcoming season the Lakers made the biggest change to the team by hiring JJ Redick at head coach but kept most of their roster intact from the previous year. Davis is expected to begin the year in the frontcourt alongside Rui Hachimura and LeBron James, the same lineup they ended 2023-2024 with.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Anthony Davis gives LeBron James to Warriors trade rumors ‘strange’ label

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-lebron-james-anthony-davis-crucial-preseason-updates');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ LeBron James, Anthony Davis get crucial preseason updates');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/LeBron-James-Anthony-Davis-get-crucial-preseason-updates.jpg"></figure><h1>Lakers’ LeBron James, Anthony Davis get crucial preseason updates</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-05T16:39:38-07:00">October 5th, 4:39pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-05T16:39:38-07:00">October 5th, 4:39pm</time><address><a>Joshua Valdez</a>Joshua Valdez started his journalism career as the Sports Editor for the Rutgers University newspaper before becoming an associate editor and Washington Wizards/Mystics reporter for ClutchPoints. He is a diehard Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Rutgers, and Tottenham Hotspur fan. When Joshua is not either watching a game or writing about one, you can find him in an art-house movie theater or working on a screenplay.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With the NBA <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-jj-redick-drops-truth-bomb-bronny-james-preseason-debut">preseason now underway, the Los Angeles Lakers</a> are set to play the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night. Not only that, but they’ll be at full strength.</p><p>The Lakers’<a href="https://x.com/LakersReporter/status/1842666227115728919" rel="noopener"> full starting five will play</a>, via Spectrum SportsNet’s Mike Trudell.</p><p>“LeBron said the plan for him is to play tomorrow against Phoenix in Palm Springs,” Trudell reported. “JJ Redick said he expects Anthony Davis to play as well, so we should see the full expected starting 5.”</p><p>Los Angeles lost 124-107 to the Minnesota Timberwolves in its preseason opener on Friday, which was also head coach JJ Redick’s debut. However, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-not-playing-in-la-preseason-opener">James and Davis were held out</a>.</p><p>The Lakers will play the Suns at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California. How will James and Davis mesh with Los Angeles’ young players?</p><h2><b>The Lakers’ supporting cast must step up</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/JJ-Redick-posing-for-a-photo-with-Rob-Pelinka-Dalton-Knecht-and-Bronny-James.jpg"><figcaption>© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Los Angeles has plenty of time, but this game is an opportunity to clean up its mistakes from the Minnesota contest. Redick<a href="https://lakersnation.com/jj-redick-evaluates-lakers-performance-in-preseason-opener-vs-timberwolves/#google_vignette" rel="noopener"> aired his grievances</a>, via Lakers Nation’s Daniel Starkand.</p><p>“There’s a lot that stood out,” the rookie coach said. “I think if you just look at the game in its entirety, we got destroyed in the possession battle. Turnovers and offensive rebounds. I think they took 15 more shots than us. In some ways, that’s the game right there.”</p><p>However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom.</p><p>“Having said that, I think there was a lot of good stuff that we did. I told our guys before the game three things I’m going to judge you on and how we are going to measure this game are organization, our talk and our level of compete,” Redick continued. “And I thought the third one, we had that at a really high level. The other two, we got to get better.”</p><p>Part of the issue is that Redick needs more time to instill defensive schemes, but James’ and Davis’ inclusion in the lineup should give a more clear picture of where the team stands.</p><p>“I think schematically defensively. We can do some things better,” Reddick repeated. “This was not a game-plan game for us. There was some stuff that, frankly, in three days of practice in walkthrough and shootaround, you are just not going to be able to cover.”</p><p>With James and Davis both still quality defenders, they’ll inevitably help. However, young players like Dalton Knecht and Jalen-Hood Schifino must step up for Los Angeles to thrive.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ LeBron James, Anthony Davis get crucial preseason updates

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-anthony-davis-surreal-take-playing-with-lebron-bronny-james');   ga('set', 'title', 'Anthony Davis’ ‘surreal’ take on playing with LeBron, Bronny James');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/IMG_0808.jpeg"></figure><h1>Anthony Davis’ ‘surreal’ take on playing with LeBron, Bronny James</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-30T17:14:25-07:00">September 30th, 5:14pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-30T17:14:25-07:00">September 30th, 5:14pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers are set to begin the 2024-25 NBA season and one of the biggest storylines surrounding the team is LeBron James and Bronny James <a href="https://x.com/ESPNNBA/status/1840840905340633255" rel="noopener">getting to play together</a>. LeBron and Bronny will make history as the first father-son duo to play on the same NBA team together. At Lakers media day, Anthony Davis spoke about the feeling of getting to witness something like this as a teammate.</p><p>“It’s still surreal to me that he’s on the same team as his dad. And I get to be a part of it and witness each and every practice, each game, each moment that they have for at least his first year,” Davis said. “I can’t wait till they step on the floor together and officially make history. But it’s been super dope to watch so far.”</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-bronny-james-fully-guaranteed-contract-details-emerge">Lakers signed Bronny to a standard contract</a> after selecting him with the No. 55 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. But it’s not yet clear what role he will play on the Lakers this season. It’s likely that he sees the majority of his live game reps come with the South Bay Lakers, the Lakers G League affiliate.</p><p>It’s not even certain that LeBron James and Bronny James will ever see the court together this year. But Anthony Davis is sure to spend quite some time on the court with LeBron as the Lakers begin their quest for title No. 18.</p><p>Both Davis and LeBron spend the offseason playing together as part of Team USA at the Olympics en route to winning a gold medal. It’s evident that the duo still has plenty left in the tank. Davis also spoke about his time at the Olympics and what he took away from that experience.</p><p>“I never take that for granted being given the chance to play with Bron, KD, Steph, they’re the older guys and they’re all on their way out. . .Who knows if they play in ‘28, who knows if they retire before, you just don’t know,” Davis said, “I think the appreciation of just playing with the greatness of those guys, the rest of those guys on the team as well, you got to appreciate that each and every day.”</p><p>The Lakers open the 2024-25 season at home on Oct. 22 against the Minnesota Timberwolves.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Anthony Davis’ ‘surreal’ take on playing with LeBron, Bronny James

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-anthony-davis-reveals-what-stood-out-amid-jj-redick-hire');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Anthony Davis reveals what ‘stood out’ amid JJ Redick hire');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Anthony-Davis-reveals-what-stood-out-amid-JJ-Redick-hire.jpg"></figure><h1>Lakers’ Anthony Davis reveals what ‘stood out’ amid JJ Redick hire</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-30T13:08:39-07:00">September 30th, 1:08pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-30T14:31:37-07:00">September 30th, 2:31pm</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LeBron James will be the face of the NBA and whatever team he plays for until <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-nba-insider-dishes-on-lebron-james-retirement-plans">his eventual retirement</a>. But both he and the Los Angeles Lakers understand that Anthony Davis is the man tapped to lead the franchise in the long-term. That transition started to take shape last year, as the star big man played a career-high 76 regular season games. It carried over into this offseason, with management seeking his feedback in its head coaching search.</p><p>Davis was intrigued by JJ Redick, the man who ultimately secured the job after LA’s failed pursuit of two-time defending national champion Dan Hurley. He told general manager Rob Pelinka <a href="https://x.com/LakersReporter/status/1840822846374944813" rel="noopener">what appealed to him most</a> about the former NBA guard and ESPN broadcaster.</p><p>“The principles and the schemes that (Redick) wanted to bring to our organization stood out to me, and I relayed that to Rob, and let Rob do his job from there,” Davis said on Media Day, per Spectrum SportsNet’s Mike Trudell.</p><h2><b>Can Lakers’ Anthony Davis emphatically seize the mantle this year</b></h2><p>Redick has expressed his intent to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-jj-redick-sheds-light-on-lebron-james-role-in-2024-25-season">ease some of James’ offensive burden</a>, and the most logical way to implement that approach is by trusting Davis to serve as the Lakers’ nucleus for long stretches of time. If LA advances to the postseason, Redick might find it wiser to lean on the four-time NBA Finals MVP and all-time scoring leader, but he will want to keep the 40-year-old James as fresh as possible.</p><p>Preserving Anthony Davis is obviously important as well, given that he just had a highly active year of basketball that culminated with a gold medal run at the Paris Summer Olympics. The four-time All-NBA First-Team selection must fully embrace his responsibilities as the future face of the franchise, however. His relationship with new head coach JJ Redick will be instrumental in the Lakers succeeding this upcoming season, and ideally the several to follow.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Anthony Davis reveals what ‘stood out’ amid JJ Redick hire

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-jj-redick-no-concern-lebron-james-anthony-davis-olympics');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Lakers’ JJ Redick has no ‘concern’ about LeBron James, Anthony Davis after Olympics');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Lakers-news-Why-JJ-Redick-has-no-concern-about-LeBron-James-Anthony-Davis-after-Olympics.jpg"></figure><h1>Why Lakers’ JJ Redick has no ‘concern’ about LeBron James, Anthony Davis after Olympics</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-08T19:05:59-07:00">September 8th, 7:05pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-08T19:05:59-07:00">September 8th, 7:05pm</time><address><a>Michael Aaron Gomez</a>Michael Aaron Gomez is a creative writer and longtime NBA fan. He has been a fan of the Lakers since the three-peat but believes LeBron James is the greatest player of all time.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After hiring JJ Redick, the Los Angeles Lakers plan to install stability and continuity in a team in transition since the 2020 NBA championship. Hiring three coaches in four years is not conducive to a winning culture, which probably explains why the team hired a young and first-time coach. However, could JJ Redick help carry the load for veteran superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, especially after winning gold at the Olympics?</p><p>In <a href="https://hoopshype.com/rumor/jj-redick-on-lebron-james-and-anthony-davis-theyll-be-ready-to-play-on-oct-22-and-be-in-shape/" rel="noopener">a recent interview</a> with the LakeShow Podcast, Redick placed his trust in the leadership and capability of his stars to take care of themselves.</p><p>“Look, those guys are professionals in every sense of the word. My concern for them about whether or not they’ll be ready to play on October 22 and be in shape, I don’t have that concern. We’re gonna work with Mike and Ish making sure that they feel that they’re in a great place to start the regular season. They’ll certainly be involved in training camp and the preseason here in September as well as preseason games,” the first-time coach said.</p><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><h2><b>Can the Lakers bounce back?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/JJ-Redick-posing-for-a-photo-with-Rob-Pelinka-Dalton-Knecht-and-Bronny-James.jpg"><figcaption>© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>In fairness, Darvin Ham adeptly navigated the Lakers through the Russell Westbrook saga, managing to keep the team together despite starting the 2022-2023 season with a 2-10 record. After a series of trades fixed the Westbrook miscalculation, the team surged all the way to the Western Conference Finals, where the eventual champions Denver Nuggets swept them.</p><p>Still, it was an admirable effort, and fans believed the Lakers could finally become contenders again, especially after adding playoff performers like Gabe Vincent and tall big men like Christian Wood. However, Ham’s screwy lineups and in-game decisions ruined team chemistry, causing the team to sputter into the postseason again.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/los-angeles-lakers-darvin-ham-fired-lebron-james-anthony-davis-rob-pelinka">Lakers decided to fire Darvin Ham</a> after they lost 4-1 to the Nuggets in the first round. Throughout the series, Ham <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lakers-darvin-ham-fired-ab9cb7152c6351ceb1142e8d434866f4" rel="noopener">watched his team</a> give away double-digit lead after double-digit lead, barely running offensive sets and adjusting to Mike Malone’s schemes.</p><p>Now, especially after the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-lakers-expected-offer-100-million-contract-dan-hurley">Dan Hurley fiasco</a>, fans pray JJ Redick won’t tinker too much with the lineups and actually run offensive sets to maximize LeBron James and Anthony Davis, still one of the deadliest tandems in the NBA, as they proved in the Paris Olympics.</p><p>However, the Bron-AD pairing might already be on the downslope, and Redick faces additional pressure of winning a ring before the inevitable rebuild.</p><p>While it’s too much to hope for a championship right away, the new Lakers coach should try actually avoiding the play-in for the third straight year. So far, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-2024-nba-draft-grade-for-bronny-james">Lakers have only added Bronny James</a> and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-2024-nba-draft-grade-for-dalton-knecht">Dalton Knecht, a draft-day steal</a>, so all eyes will be on the former podcast host and TV analyst as he navigates the Western Conference minefield.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Lakers’ JJ Redick has no ‘concern’ about LeBron James, Anthony Davis after Olympics

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/olympics-brian-windhorst-blasts-lakers-for-wasting-lebron-james-and-anthony-davis');   ga('set', 'title', 'Tim Bontemps blasts Lakers for wasting LeBron James and Anthony Davis');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Tim-Bontemps-blasts-Lakers-for-wasting-LeBron-James-and-Anthony-Davis.jpg"></figure><h1>Tim Bontemps blasts Lakers for wasting LeBron James and Anthony Davis</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-08-12T16:21:04-07:00">August 12th, 4:21pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-08-12T16:21:04-07:00">August 12th, 4:21pm</time><address><a>Matty Breisch</a>Matty Breisch is a multifaceted writer who specializes in WWE content at ClutchPoints. He can be read at Heavy, Fansided, Philadelphia Sports Network, and right here at ClutchPoints. Are you ready to read about wrestling? Well, you've come to the right place.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>When watching the 2024 Paris Olympics, it was hard not to notice that two of the<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lebron-james-olympics-mvp-win-splits-team-usa-fans" rel="noopener"> top players on Team USA</a> were members of the Los Angeles Lakers, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-anthony-davis-hilarious-reaction-to-lebron-james-heroics" rel="noopener">LeBron James and Anthony Davis</a>.</p><p>While this shouldn’t be too surprising, as the duo were targeted by LA for being premier talents at their respective positions, the fact that they looked so darn good in Paris while their team has largely been irrelevant stateside was not lost on the members of <i>The Hoop Collective</i>, with Tim Bontemps absolutely going off on the Lakers for effectively failing their two stars <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quEJebDDfbU&amp;t=1081s" rel="noopener">from a team-building standpoint</a>.</p><p>“I think the single biggest takeaway from this whole tournament is that it showed me how terribly the Lakers have been run for most of the past several years where you have LeBron James, and yes, he’s approaching 40, he’s the oldest player in the league, he’s obviously can’t play at this level for 82 games but we saw a couple years ago when he got to the Conference Finals, say what you will about injuries and favorable matchups, or whatever, when he is in moments like this, he still has the ability to turn it up to a really high level,” Tim Bontemps declared on <i>The Hoop Collective</i>. “And they have put such a poor team around him and Anthony Davis, that they have been an afterthought the vast majority of the run and especially the last few years outside of, again, they had some favorable matchups that got them to the Conference Finals one time; otherwise they’ve been a non-factor.”</p><p>When fellow <i>Collective</i> member Tim McMahon pointed out that the Lakers really goofed up by not bringing in Kyrie Irving when they had a chance, Bontemps added an example of his own, letting the listeners know that through it all, the Lakers have failed their dynamic duo at every turn.</p><p>“You could go back to not getting Mike Conley instead of D’Angelo Russell in that deal; yeah, there are a hundred things you can point to,” Bontemps noted. “The overall point, though, is that LeBron still has the ability to be a difference-making player at the highest level, and with him and AD, it remains unfathomable that this team remains irrelevant, and that’s what they are irrelevant.”</p><p>Whoa, interesting stuff, right? Well, wait, it gets even better, as after a minor detour talking about the general lack of respect sent Joel Embiid’s way, all three members of the Collective dug a little deeper into the Lakers’ poor management.</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/LeBron-James-and-Anthony-Davis-with-their-Olympic-Gold-Medals.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><h2><b>Bontemps: the Lakers have failed LeBron James and AD</b></h2><p>Turning their attention back to AD and King James, Brian Windhorst pointed out how impressive the latter’s stat line was, as few have matched his efforts in Olympic history.</p><p>“My grand point on this is if you’re a Lakers fan, and you’re watching LeBron, and by the way, LeBron’s final stats, 14 points, 8.5 assists, I think it’s the second-most assists in Olympic history, I think in total because he played a little more than Jokic,” Windhorst explained. “Now Jokic led in total assists, so maybe it was for Americans; it was the most assists per game for Americans since Chris Ford in 1976. Anyway, 14 points, 8.5 assists, 6.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 66 percent from the floor.”</p><p>“He was the best athlete on the floor in every game of the Olympics at 39; it’s ridiculous,” McMahon added. “And look, there are two reasons that our network never shuts up about the Lakers’ championship chances: the first reason is because we’re capitalists, and it’s great for ratings because the Lakers are the most polarizing franchise in the NBA. The second reason is because they have an All-NBA duo that has proven they can win a championship together, and that’s why it’s hard to just absolutely dismiss them, but back to your grand point, what the h*ll is happening to the construction of that roster since the bubble?”</p><p>Unfortunately for Lakers fans, McMahon is on the money, as the team has only made it out of the first round twice and actually missed the playoffs twice, too, versus two Western Conference title appearances and the Bubble Championship. While plenty has played into why each season turned out the way it did, from failed trades to trades that failed, in the end, Bontemps summed it up perfectly in his autopsy of the last six years of Lakers basketball.</p><p>“It’s just a reminder of how much of a disaster that has been,” Bontemps declared.</p><p>You know, when it comes right down to it, what else really needs to be said?</p><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Tim Bontemps blasts Lakers for wasting LeBron James and Anthony Davis

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/olympics-news-anthony-davis-issues-demand-after-crushing-brazil');   ga('set', 'title', 'Anthony Davis issues demand after crushing Brazil');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Anthony-Davis-issues-demand-after-crushing-Brazil.jpg"></figure><h1>Anthony Davis issues demand after crushing Brazil</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-08-06T17:19:38-07:00">August 6th, 5:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-08-06T17:34:52-07:00">August 6th, 5:34pm</time><address><a>Itiel Estudillo</a>Itiel Estudillo is an NBA and Gaming Journalist at ClutchPoints. He's been working as a sports analyst for two years now and aims to leave a remarkable impression in the industry. When off the keyboard, Itiel participates in the local basketball league and pickup games. But when he's off the court, he also loves to grab his controller and enjoy a vast collection of video games.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After Team USA defeated Brazil in a blowout performance with a final score of 122-87, Anthony Davis shared his thoughts on what his team needs to do in their upcoming rematch against Serbia. The Americans easily crushed the Brazilians despite <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-lebron-james-goes-to-locker-room-after-hit-in-face-brazil">LeBron James getting stitched up</a> in the third quarter. Devin Booker was the star of the show leading the with 18 points. Assisting Booker on the offensive were Anthony Edwards (17 points), Joel Embiid (14 points), and Davis (13 points).</p><p>Satisfied with their performance, Davis briefly jotted down the keys to their success against Brazil. He recognizes that his team consists of a plethora of prolific scorers. His job, alongside Embiid, is to hustle for the ball and create scoring opportunities for their guards. Davis also commended Embiid for an impeccable performance despite the negative reception he would get from the French fans. As long as the two big men can deliver and efficiently support their guards, Davis believes those factors will help them come out on top against Serbia in the semi-finals.</p><blockquote>We have a lot of scoring guards, it’s our job to give them second chance opportunities, offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, blocks, just do our parts,” Anthony said. “(Joel Embiid) has been aggressive, dominant and that’s what we’re gonna need in the next game. He came out ready to play, obviously the crowd booing him feeds into it, he embraces it, and he’s been the spark on our team.</blockquote><h2><b>Can Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid shut Nikola Jokic down?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Joel-Embiid-and-Anthony-Davis-sharing-a-laugh.jpg"><figcaption>© Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>After winning four games in a row from the group phase to the quarterfinals, Team USA is advancing to the semi-finals with all the momentum on their side. Matching up against them in the semis is none other than Serbia, who they defeated in their first game of the 2024 Olympics.</p><p>Team USA is undoubtedly stacked given that their entire lineup consists of NBA players. However, Serbia has proven to be a worthy foe to the Americans. Despite getting blown out by them in the quarterfinals, the game was close throughout the first half of their game. This was thanks to the efforts of the reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.</p><p>As expected, Jokic was a beast on the court against Team USA. He put up 20 points, eight assists, five rebounds, and four steals. His efforts helped keep the game within reach. Unfortunately, Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, and the rest of the Americans played solid defense, which put a stop to Serbia’s resurgence.</p><p>Given these factors, it’s clear that Davis understands that the key of the big men is to keep the pressure on the Serbians. Jokic and his crew proved that they have what it takes to keep up despite the lack of star power. With that in mind, Davis and Embiid will need to pull out all the stops to stop Jokic in his tracks. The Serbian big man is undeniably the core of his team. As long as Team USA’s scorers knock down their shots, while the big men deliver on clean-up duty, the Americans should be able to keep Serbia down.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Anthony Davis issues demand after crushing Brazil

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/olympics-news-anthony-davis-reveals-how-team-usa-experience-at-19-shaped-him-as-player');   ga('set', 'title', 'Anthony Davis reveals how Team USA experience at 19 shaped him as player');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Anthony-Davis-Team-USA.jpg"></figure><h1>Anthony Davis reveals how Team USA experience at 19 shaped him as player</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-08-06T07:49:01-07:00">August 6th, 7:49am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-08-06T07:49:01-07:00">August 6th, 7:49am</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Anthony Davis is making his mark for Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games. It’s his second time repping the United States in the Olympics and a far cry from how his first go-around looked like. Once a player who was stuffed to the end of the bench, the big man is playing regularly and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-team-usas-anthony-davis-bam-adebayo-making-terrorizing-waves-vs-serbia">making a real impact</a>.</p><p>Davis called himself a “towel waver” on Team USA in 2012, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, a joke about how he was not a major player on the team. Now, he sees regular minutes and was even used as a starter in the Americans’ win over South Sudan. He said that his <a href="https://andscape.com/features/usa-basketball-star-anthony-davis-has-a-different-appreciation-for-the-olympics-in-2024/" rel="noopener">experience as a youngster</a> with the national team shaped him into the player he is today.</p><p>“I don’t think that I would be the player I am today without that experience,” Davis said, via Andscape. “Obviously, every guy has played summer league. But I never played summer league. That first year being around those guys I was around, Melo [Anthony], Kobe, Bron, [Andre] Iguodala, James Harden, Russ [Westbrook], KD [Durant], Kevin Love, all those guys… Seeing their work ethic, their professionalism, how they approached the game.”</p><h2><b>Anthony Davis recalls important Team USA experience ahead of rookie season</b></h2><p>Even if he hadn’t played with Team USA, Davis probably would have still become the phenom he is today. His special blend of size and skill translated to the NBA right away.</p><p>However, being around the best professional players that the United States had to offer was understandably important for the young Davis. Learning how to be a pro and getting first-hand experience against stars gave him a huge leg up on other youngsters. With such a big springboard, Davis hit the ground running and, despite being wildly injury-prone, has been one of the best players in all of basketball for over a decade.</p><p>Davis’ rebounding and interior scoring have been huge for Team USA in 2024. As they look to navigate the knockout stage and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-charles-barkley-sends-team-usa-warning-dont-win-gold">win the gold medal</a>, they’ll be ready to call on The Brow.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Anthony Davis reveals how Team USA experience at 19 shaped him as player

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/olympics-news-anthony-davis-provides-update-after-injury-scare-team-usa-win');   ga('set', 'title', 'Anthony Davis provides update after injury scare in Team USA win');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Anthony-Davis-provides-update-after-injury-scare-in-Team-USA-win.jpg"></figure><h1>Anthony Davis provides update after injury scare in Team USA win</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-31T16:56:17-07:00">July 31st, 4:56pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-31T16:56:17-07:00">July 31st, 4:56pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Team USA men’s basketball is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/dwyane-wades-instant-reaction-to-bam-adebayos-big-game-vs-south-sudan">off to a 2-0 start</a> during the group stage of the Olympics, but one of the key concerns following their 103-86 win against South Sudan was the injury to Anthony Davis. The Lakers star appeared to hurt his ankle when former Lakers teammate Wenyen Gabriel landed on him.</p><p>But Anthony Davis <a href="https://twitter.com/BenGolliver/status/1818767479549968509" rel="noopener">quelled any injury concerns</a> stating that he was fine as per Ben Golliver of The Washington Post. Davis joked that it was just a run-in with his old Lakers teammate Gabriel and nothing more.</p><p>“Wenyen being Wenyen,” Davis said. “He’s my guy. I was falling and he came down too and just kind of stepped on my foot.”</p><p>Anthony Davis in the starting lineup was one of the major changes head coach Steve Kerr made prior to Team USA’s second Olympics game against South Sudan. Davis started at center in place of Joel Embiid who did not play in the win. Kerr also put Jayson Tatum in the starting lineup in place of Jrue Holiday. Tatum did not play in Team USA’s first game against Serbia.</p><p>Davis finished with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists, one steal and one blocked shot in 19 minutes. He shot 4-of-7 from the field. Against Serbia in Team USA’s opening win, he finished with seven points, eight rebounds, one assist and one steal while shooting 3-of-6 from the field and 1-of-1 from the free-throw line.</p><h2><b>Anthony Davis, LeBron James showing Lakers chemistry at Olympics<br></b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Anthony-Davis-and-LeBron-James-on-the-bench.jpg"><figcaption>Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>In what must be very reassuring to Lakers fans, Anthony Davis and LeBron James have showed incredibly chemistry during Team USA’s Olympics run so far. The prevailing thought amongst fans on social media is that James and Davis are still a championship caliber duo, they just need the right players around them on the roster.</p><p>Last season, the Lakers were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs in five games. James and Davis played well though as a duo, they just didn’t quite get the necessary help from the rest of the supporting cast.</p><p>Davis appeared in 76 games for the Lakers, the most number of games he’s ever played in during a single season of his NBA career. His previous career-high was 75 games during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons when he was still playing for the New Orleans Pelicans.</p><p>He averaged 24.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.3 blocked shots with splits of 55.6 percent shooting from the field, 27.1 percent shooting from the three-point line and 81.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Anthony Davis provides update after injury scare in Team USA win

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/olympics-news-jayson-tatum-anthony-davis-jrue-holiday-joel-embiid-south-sudan');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jayson Tatum, AD replacing Jrue Holiday, Joel Embiid vs. South Sudan in Olympics');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Olympics-news-Jayson-Tatum-Anthony-Davis-replacing-Jrue-Holiday-Joel-Embiid-vs.jpg"></figure><h1>Jayson Tatum, AD replacing Jrue Holiday, Joel Embiid vs. South Sudan in Olympics</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-31T11:55:05-07:00">July 31st, 11:55am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-31T16:46:36-07:00">July 31st, 4:46pm</time><address><a>Joshua Valdez</a>Joshua Valdez started his journalism career as the Sports Editor for the Rutgers University newspaper before becoming an associate editor for ClutchPoints. He is a diehard Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Rutgers, and Tottenham Hotspur fan. When Joshua is not either watching a game or writing about one, you can find him in an art-house movie theater or working on a screenplay.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-incredible-nikola-jokic-stat-shows-why-team-usa-beat-serbia">Team USA cruised to a 110-84 victory</a> over Serbia on Sunday, head coach Steve Kerr made headlines for sitting Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton the entire game. However, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-kendrick-perkins-calls-out-steve-kerr-jayson-tatum-disrespect">Tatum won’t ride the bench</a> for the whole of the 2024 Olympics.</p><p>Team USA is <a href="https://x.com/WindhorstESPN/status/1818719610327515230" rel="noopener">shaking up its lineup</a> ahead of its group stage clash with South Sudan on Wednesday, via ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.</p><p>“Jayson Tatum &amp; Anthony Davis into starting lineup for Team USA vs. South Sudan,” Windhorst reported. “Replacing Jrue Holiday and Joel Embiid. Coach Steve Kerr said game plan would change based on the opponent and Tatum has gone from out of rotation to starting as Kerr goes with more wings.”</p><p>One of the main storylines from Sunday’s win against Serbia was that Tatum spent the entire game on the bench. Kerr insisted that it had nothing to do with Tatum’s abilities, and had everything to do with the challenges of managing a superstar-laden Olympics roster.</p><p>Kerr <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5665454/2024/07/29/jayson-tatum-olympics-basketball/" rel="noopener">sounded off about his thought</a> process behind rotation changes, via The Athletic’s Joe Vardon.</p><p>“The hardest part of this job is you’re sitting at least a couple of guys who are world-class, some of the very best players on Earth, and on the one hand it makes no sense at all,” Kerr said. “On the other, I’m asking these guys to just commit to winning one game and then move on to the next one. I have to do the same thing. And so I felt like last night those were the combinations that made the most sense.”</p><p>Will the new-look lineup pay off against South Sudan?</p><h2><b>Jayson Tatum and Anthony Davis have no excuse to struggle in the Olympics</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jayson-Tatum-with-Team-USA-2.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>While it can be strange for a superstar player to be in and out of the starting lineup, the Red, White, and Blue still have the most talented roster in the world from top to bottom. Kerr may tinker with the rotation based on matchups, but the Americans have no excuse to not win the Gold in these Olympics.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jayson Tatum, AD replacing Jrue Holiday, Joel Embiid vs. South Sudan in Olympics

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/olympics-news-stephen-curry-anthony-davis-warnings-team-usa-vulnerability');   ga('set', 'title', 'Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis issue warnings on Team USA’s vulnerability');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Stephen-Curry-Anthony-Davis-issue-warnings-on-Team-USAs-vulnerability.jpg"></figure><h1>Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis issue warnings on Team USA’s vulnerability</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-28T08:25:41-07:00">July 28th, 8:25am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-28T08:26:08-07:00">July 28th, 8:26am</time><address><a>Quinn Allen</a>Quinn Allen is a Senior Associate Editor with ClutchPoints. He specializes mainly in soccer, basketball, and baseball. When Quinn isn't producing content for CP,  he's writing sports betting predictions for numerous sites across North America.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Team USA basketball will begin their quest for gold on Sunday at the 2024 Paris Olympics as they face <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nikola-jokic-2024-olympics-props-prediction">Nikola Jokic and Serbia</a>. The Americans are a heavy favorite to win it all thanks to their star-studded lineup led by the likes of LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant, among others, but Steph in particular knows that the States <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5662720/2024/07/28/us-mens-basketball-olympics-dream-team-greatness/" rel="noopener">cannot believe</a> they’re superior to everyone else.</p><p>“We’re not invincible,” Curry said prior to the tournament opener. Via The Athletic:</p><p>Anthony Davis is also aware that a lot of other teams in the Olympics are loaded with talent, hence why Team USA must keep their foot on the gas pedal at all times:</p><p>“We don’t take these things for granted,” Davis said. “You don’t come in like, ‘Oh, we’re the “Monstars” and we’re just going to crush everybody.’ Like, those days are long over.”</p><p>Head coach Steve Kerr reiterated that statement:</p><p>“It’s the strongest field ever,” Kerr said. “The game gets better and better globally, more and more NBA players, but also teams are more and more comfortable playing against us, and so we know that every game’s going to be difficult and we have to prepare for that and be ready because these teams are coming after us.”</p><h2><b>Can Team USA get it done?</b></h2><p>Curry, Bron, AD, KD, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton, the list goes on. On paper, absolutely no one has any business beating the Americans, who are essentially an NBA All-Star team. Tune-up games leading up to Paris weren’t all that convincing though, despite going 5-0. They barely beat South Sudan and Germany.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/team-usa-mens-basketball-bold-predictions-2024-paris-olympics">Team USA</a> has won gold five times at the Olympics and has a legitimate chance at making it six. Group C will see them also play South Sudan and Puerto Rico after taking on the Serbs, who they already beat in exhibition play.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis issue warnings on Team USA’s vulnerability

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/anthony-davis-joel-embiid-get-pivotal-updates-as-olympics-begin');   ga('set', 'title', 'Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid get pivotal updates as Olympics begin');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Olympics-news-Anthony-Davis-Joel-Embiid-get-pivotal-updates.jpg"></figure><h1>Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid get pivotal updates as Olympics begin</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-27T08:11:32-07:00">July 27th, 8:11am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-27T08:11:32-07:00">July 27th, 8:11am</time><address><a href="https://medium.com/bingeable">Sonny Giuliano</a>Sonny Giuliano is an experienced sports writer for ClutchPoints who has been covering the NFL, NCAA Football, NBA, and NCAA Basketball for well over a decade. Originally from the small town of Elba, New York, Sonny received his degree from Florida Gulf Coast University and currently resides in Naples, Florida</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>When the Team USA men’s basketball squad opens up Olympics competition on Sunday morning at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, they’ll be doing so against <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-nikola-jokic-2023-24-nba-mvp" rel="noopener">three-time NBA MVP</a> Nikola Jokic and the Serbian national team. That makes the following updates on Team USA center Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis, provided by Grant Afseth of Essentially Sports, even more crucial:</p><p>“Joel Embiid will not practice with Team USA today as he deals with an illness,” Afseth <a href="https://x.com/GrantAfseth/status/1817150581699486145" rel="noopener">noted in the first</a> of two tweets sent this morning. He followed that tweet with a note from Team USA men’s basketball coach Steve Kerr, who <a href="https://x.com/GrantAfseth/status/1817155388153725335" rel="noopener">provided some information</a> on the status of back-up center Anthony Davis as well after the Los Angeles Lakers big man missed practice on Thursday.</p><p>“For those asking about where Anthony Davis was during Thursday’s practice, Steve Kerr mentioned he did not participate due to illness. However, Davis practiced today.”</p><p>Nikola Jokic is arguably the best basketball player in the world, and a big problem — both literally and figuratively — for any team, no matter how much talent they possess. No team in the Olympic tournament has more high-level talent than Team USA, but with both Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis less than 100 percent, the Americans will have their work cut out for them as they try to avoid an opening game upset for the first time since 2004, when the Americans were stunned by Puerto Rico in a 19-point defeat.</p><p>However, there is good news for Team USA: Kerr stated that he believed his squad would have everyone ready to go when the games began on Sunday, and that apparently includes Kevin Durant, who practiced for the third consecutive time on Saturday morning after missing all five pre-Olympics tune-up games over the past two weeks.</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Anthony-Davis-and-Joel-Embiid-on-the-Team-USA-bench-1024x683.jpg"><figcaption>© Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><h2>Who will close for Team USA at the Summer Olympics?</h2><p>So with Kevin Durant (likely) <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-kevin-durant-status-team-usa-serbia-clash-update">returning to action</a> and both Joel Embiid and Anthony Davis apparently not at risk of missing any time, this raises a very important question that Steve Kerr and his illustrious coaching staff have surely been considering over the past few weeks as they’ve prepared for the Olympics: when Team USA faces some adversity and goes into a 4th quarter with the game very much hanging in the balance, who will be the five players that Team USA relies on to close things out?</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-joel-embiid-anthony-davis-debate-rages-team-usa-holds-off-australia">Fans have called for</a> Anthony Davis to start over Joel Embiid after Davis looked significantly more comfortable during Team USA’s five exhibition games, but what matters more than who starts is who finishes. Don’t be surprised to see Davis as the lone big man in Team USA closing lineups, flanked by <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-coco-gauff-reaction-flag-bearer-duties-lebron-james">Team USA flag bearer</a> LeBron James and Stephen Curry for sure. Given Anthony Edwards’ ascent during the most recent FIBA World Championships, it’s likely that he’ll get one of the five closing spots as well. That leaves one spot open — a spot that Jrue Holiday has occupied for much of the Summer. However, depending on how healthy Kevin Durant <i>actually </i>is, he could be the final man in Team USA’s closing five.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid get pivotal updates as Olympics begin

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/olympics-news-anthony-davis-hilarious-reaction-to-lebron-james-heroics');   ga('set', 'title', 'Anthony Davis’ hilarious reaction to LeBron James’ heroics');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Olympics-news-Anthony-Davis-hilarious-reaction-to-LeBron-James-heroics.jpg"></figure><h1>Anthony Davis’ hilarious reaction to LeBron James’ heroics</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-22T15:33:08-07:00">July 22nd, 3:33pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-22T15:50:57-07:00">July 22nd, 3:50pm</time><address><a>Christopher Smith</a>Christopher Smith is an associate editor covering a variety of sports with a beat focus on the Chicago Sky for ClutchPoints. The Aurora, Illinois native earned a degree in philosophy from Creighton University, where he also competed as a Division 1 Cross Country runner.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LeBron James put on a stellar late-game display to help Team USA earn a 92-88 win over Germany on Monday. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lebron-james-saves-team-usa-again-with-clutch-masterclass-vs-germany">James scored his team’s</a> last 11 points to seal the victory. His continued late-game heroics are impressive considering his age. Thus, fellow Los Angeles Lakers and Team USA teammate Anthony Davis displayed a hilarious reaction to James’ feat.</p><p>“LeBron James… a monster. <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1815506174659182692" rel="noopener">He’s still doing</a> this at 45!” Davis said after the game, via the NBA X (formerly Twitter) account.</p><p>James has not reached the age of 45 yet, but Anthony Davis’ praise is still fitting. James will turn 40 years old in December of 2024 but has not lost a step. He ended Monday’s win over Team Germany with a team-high 20 points to go with six rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal. James shot 100 percent on his three-pointers (2-for-2) and 80 percent from the field.</p><p>The Lakers veteran has been one of the most important players for the USA through the squad’s exhibition games. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-lebron-james-game-winner-for-team-usa-vs-south-sudan-sparks-wild-reactions">James helped his team</a> get a 101-100 win over South Sudan after a clutch late-game drive to the basket. Team USA will continue to use his efforts as they look to win another gold at the start of official Olympic play. However, James is not the only one looking to make an impact for the highly-touted squad.</p><h2><b>Anthony Davis looks to make mark in Olympics for Team USA</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Davis-with-Team-USA-1.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Davis finished the win against Team Germany with 10 points, seven rebounds, and one block. He shot 60 percent from the field and made all four of his free throw attempts. Two days prior, Davis came up huge off the bench against South Sudan. The 31-year-old amassed 15 points, two blocks, and one steal. Davis looks to continue being a stout interior force for Team USA.</p><p>Nevertheless, the Lakers forward has admitted he and his teammates have things to work on. In mid-July, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/steve-kerr-drops-5-word-anthony-davis-truth-bomb-amid-team-usa-frontcourt-drama">Davis said he</a> and fellow frontcourt member Bam Adebayo were “still trying to figure it out” and “get in each other’s way” on occasion. Despite the potential awkwardness of the two stars sharing the court, they have found a way to help keep their team on a winning streak.</p><p>Steve Kerr expressed faith in Davis, saying “AD with anybody is good” amid the Lakers star’s fit concerns. Surely, Davis and the rest of his Team USA teammates will grow more comfortable with each other. They look to continue to build chemistry ahead of crucial matchups.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Anthony Davis’ hilarious reaction to LeBron James’ heroics

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/lakers-news-dalton-knecht-devastating-outlook-alongside-lebron-james-anthony-davis');   ga('set', 'title', 'Dalton Knecht’s ‘devastating’ Lakers outlook alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Lakers-news-Dalton-Knechs-devastating-outlook-alongside-LeBron-James-Anthony-Davis.jpg"></figure><h1>Dalton Knecht’s ‘devastating’ Lakers outlook alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-18T20:08:02-07:00">July 18th, 8:08pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-19T07:56:32-07:00">July 19th, 7:56am</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Most rookies struggle with making the jump from the amateurs to the professional level. After all, the game is faster, and there are more schemes and notes for them to digest. This is why NBA players rarely peak in their first year in the Association.</p><p>Nonetheless, for the Los Angeles Lakers, however, they are hoping that the selection of Dalton Knecht with the 17th overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-dalton-knecht-wild-career-prediction-belongs-hall-of-fame">pays immediate dividends</a>.</p><p>After all, Knecht was lauded as one of the most NBA-ready prospects of his class, and he tore up the collegiate opposition last year as the main man for Tennessee. He turned heads with his underrated athleticism and ability to shoot every which way — whether off the catch, off the bounce or on the move.</p><p>Knecht has to be ready, as the Lakers may have to rely on him from day one due to the offseason they have had that has been defined by inactivity.</p><p>In particular, Jovan Buha of The Athletic has Dalton Knecht as a part of the Lakers’ <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5622822/2024/07/18/bronny-james-lakers-nba-summer-league-lebron/" rel="noopener">nine-man rotation</a> next season (LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura, Jarred Vanderbilt, Max Christie, Christian Wood), and he could even be a “devastating off-ball weapon” alongside the team’s more established veterans.</p><p>Knecht, however, will have to improve his defensive work rate and impact so that his floor could be a rotation player as soon as his rookie campaign, Buha added.</p><p>While grabbing a future All-Star is one of the best-case scenarios for a player taken out of the lottery, nabbing a rotation piece who could impact winning as early as one’s rookie season is a major win in and of itself.</p><p>The Lakers know this. They misfired on their 2023 NBA Draft selection, choosing Jalen Hood-Schifino over the likes of Brandin Podziemski, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Cam Whitmore. But now, they have a chance to redeem themselves with the selection of Knecht.</p><h2>Will the Lakers give Dalton Knecht a chance in his rookie year?</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Dalton-Knecht-1.jpg"></figure><p>There are coaches who typically do not prefer to hand minutes out to inexperienced players. They want steady hands and prefer instead to give minutes to veterans, usually those they have already worked with in the past.</p><p>But new Lakers head coach JJ Redick isn’t exactly stuck in the ways of the old guard. Redick is a tireless student of the game with an open mind regarding the developments in today’s NBA, and he has a strong social media presence and sense as well, so he is not out of touch.</p><p>But will <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-dalton-knecht-draft-admission-la-pick">Dalton Knecht play well enough</a> to warrant minutes over the likes of Max Christie, Gabe Vincent, or even Cam Reddish and Jalen Hood-Schifino? Knecht’s floor-spacing abilities should endear him to Redick, for sure, but defensively, he pales in comparison to the aforementioned players.</p><p>Even Hood-Schifino could make a case for minutes if he impresses in camp. He’s only 21 years of age. When Knecht turned 21, he was averaging around eight points per game for Northern Colorado.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-notorious-lebron-james-haters-opening-dalton-knecht-jj-redick-comparison">comparisons to Redick are lazy.</a> Redick was a much-better college player than Knecht ever was, with the current Lakers head coach averaging 26.8 points per game for Duke on 42.1 percent shooting from deep on 9.2 attempts per game in his senior year.</p><p>That was a different era of basketball, and yet Redick was uncorking 3-pointers at such an incredible rate — making them at an elite clip as well.</p><p>It took Redick three seasons to become an established rotation player thanks in large part to the logjam the Orlando Magic had at the guard positions at the time. While the Lakers don’t exactly have an embarrassment of riches on the wing, there is a chance that Knecht doesn’t have the immediate impact many seem to think he’ll have.</p><p>In fact, Knecht’s main competition for minutes — Christie and Reddish — can all get better still. Christie is fresh off signing a new deal in free agency, and he’s only 21 years old — two years younger than Knecht. He is an athletic livewire who crashes the glass with reckless abandon, and his 3-point shot has been improving as well.</p><p>Meanwhile, Reddish may have been in the league since 2019, but he’s only 25 years old, so there may be room for him to grow still.</p><p>All of this needs to be said just to temper everyone’s expectations of Knecht. He is a talented player and a solid shooter, but there is still a lot of work left for him to do to flesh out his game and be a rotation piece for the Lakers for years to come.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Dalton Knecht’s ‘devastating’ Lakers outlook alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/olympics-news-team-usas-bam-adebayo-reveals-what-really-matters-playing-behind-joel-embiid-anthony-davis');   ga('set', 'title', 'Team USA’s Bam Adebayo reveals what really ‘matters’ playing behind Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Bam-Adebayo-reveals-what-really-matters-playing-behind-Joel-Embiid-Anthony-Davis-on-Team-USA.jpg"></figure><h1>Team USA’s Bam Adebayo reveals what really ‘matters’ playing behind Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-07-17T11:29:28-07:00">July 17th, 11:29am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-07-17T11:29:28-07:00">July 17th, 11:29am</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-kevin-durants-personal-take-on-change-in-stephen-curry-lebron-james-rivalry">Team USA this year for the Paris Olympics</a> has a stacked big man rotation with Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid, Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis, and finally <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-team-usas-anthony-davis-bam-adebayo-making-terrorizing-waves-vs-serbia">Miami Heat cornerstone in Bam Adebayo</a>. One would immediately think that Adebayo would have a more limited role on the Olympics squad because of the talent of the other two centers and while that could not be father from the truth, he puts Team USA in to perspective.</p><p>This is not Adebayo’s first rodeo with Team USA as he was on the squad in 2021 that won the gold medal in Tokyo adding that to his already impressive resume being a basketball player. Looking at the absolute stacked roster they have, Adebayo would say what<a href="https://www.usab.com/news/2024/07/hell-always-be-about-winning-how-bam-adebayo-fits-on-a-loaded-usa-roster" rel="noopener"> “matters”</a> the most is if they win the gold medal by the end of the Olympics according to Matthew Ho of USAB.com.</p><p>“Nobody’s going to remember stats,” Adebayo said. “Nobody’s going to remember minutes. All they’re going to see when it’s all said and done is ‘Olympic gold medalist’. I feel like that matters more than however many points or how many touches.”</p><p>Still, Adebayo will play a huge part for Team USA as he is one of the best defenders in the entire NBA, argued by some to be the best period, even finishing as a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year this past season. Even in Wednesday’s blowout exhibition win over Serbia, 109-75, Adebayo was integral as he scored 17 points making six of his nine attempts from the field while also collecting eight rebounds and three assists.</p><h2><b>Adebayo talks about the journey he’s been on with Heat and Team USA</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Bam-Adebayo-shooting-the-ball-during-Team-USAs-win-over-Canada-on-July-10-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Candice Ward-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>He was even lethal from beyond the arch against Serbia for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-team-usa-makes-starting-lineup-change-serbia-not-joel-embiid">Team USA as he made three</a> of five attempts from that range which has been an aspect of his game that Adebayo has been looking to get better as a stretch big. It has been a long journey for the 26-year old big man since being drafted in the middle of the first round in 2017 where he was not immediately playing by Heat head coach and current assistant Team USA coach Erik Spoelstra.</p><p>“(Spoelstra) didn’t play me,” Adebayo said. “It’s hard being a lottery pick and you don’t play, but I was able to work towards something and have a goal in mind. All these milestones I’ve hit, I’ve earned every last one of them.”</p><p>If there was one person who saw the potential that Adebayo had, it was Spoelstra who has made him a crucial part to the Heat on both sides of the floor. So much so, that Spoelstra always knew that there was no ceiling with the Heat center, saying that he had the “work ethic” to “accomplish amazing things.”</p><p>“We didn’t want to put any limits on him,” Spoelstra said. “We knew he was ambitious, we knew he had a work ethic and a competitive character to accomplish amazing things.”</p><h2><b>Erik Spoelstra speaks on Adebayo’s mindset</b></h2><p>With the Heat, Adebayo has been to two NBA Finals series as he has experienced the biggest stage possible on top of competing for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-draymond-green-absolute-team-usa-take">gold already with Team USA</a>. Spoelstra would echo the same sentiments and say that he is no doubt “respected in NBA circles,” especially when it comes to “USA Basketball.”</p><p>“He always will be about winning,” Spoelstra said via Matthew Ho of the Team USA website. “That’s why he’s so respected in NBA circles, but also USA Basketball.”</p><p>Adebayo was once the backup center for the Heat to start his career when Hassan Whiteside was on the team, but as soon as Spoelstra saw the capabilities the offense could be with how much faster it flowed, the team made the change. He is a main focus of Miami’s team along with Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro as he is also versatile in the way he plays.</p><p>“What I think Bam has done more than anything with these Olympic nods is that it shows he can play whatever role is necessary because he’s all about winning,” Spoelstra said. “He can fit into any team and be a value add.”</p><h2><b>Adebayo “not even in his physical prime yet” according to Spoelstra</b></h2><p>Last season with the Heat, Adebayo averaged 19.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game while shooting 52.1 percent from the field leading to his third All-Star game appearance. With how he performs every season and even early on with Team USA, Spoelstra firmly believes there is a long way to go for the University of Kentucky product.</p><p>“He’s not even in his physical prime yet but he’s about all the right things,” Spolestra said. “When you’re all about winning and you have a work ethic that’s outstanding, the sky’s the limit and he’s proving that right now.”</p><p>For the Heat, they are looking to improve after finishing at the eighth seed for the second straight season with a 46-36 record as they were eliminated in the first round by the Boston Celtics. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-stephen-curry-gets-real-joel-embiid-chemistry-issues">As for Team USA</a>, Adebayo will try to build off his exceptional performance against Serbia and take it in to the next exhibition game against South Sudan on Saturday, July 20.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
24.7	12.6	3.5	2.3	1.2

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
24.7	12.6	3.5	2.3	1.2

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