Anthony Davis Reacts To Lakers GM6 vs Grizzlies | April 28, 2023

Which team? Yeah, Anthony, there was after that loose ball, and you kind of got the crowd going. It was a defensive play to cap off a defensive night. LeBron said your defense was spectacular. Darvin talked about how you told him you wanted to dominate the series. How gratifying was it for you to have this kind of a defensive effort as a team in a closeout game? It was really good. We gave up a lot of transition points and offensive rebounds throughout the series. And we knew that's how they thrive. When we get them in half court, it's usually tough for them to score. If I'm not mistaken, it was a stat that 49 of their points came in transition, I think, last game, or something like that. I don't know. I just wanted to be solid on both ends of the floor. I know it starts with me dominating that side of the ball with my energy and effort and the presence at the rim, making it tough for them to score. So just leaving it all out on the floor to make sure that we secure the victory. Yola. AD, you guys obviously had a commanding lead at halftime. But it felt like you guys really blew things open in that third quarter. I think you guys outscored them by 16. What did you see during that 12-minute stretch, just on both ends? You guys, obviously, creating turnovers, getting out of transition. And it felt like kind of a culmination of, really, everything you guys have been talking about and trying to build over these last couple of months. Yeah. We was in the position before game three and to kind of cut the lead down. So we just came out and said that the score is 0-0. And that's the way we approached the third quarter and was able to continue to get some separation, get some stops. And that's how we approached it and didn't want to let our foot off the gas. Obviously, this team can score in bunches. Jack can get hot. Bank can get hot. Jarrett can get hot. Their role players can make shots. And we didn't want that to happen. So we just wanted to make sure that we wanted to keep our presence defensively, which led to a lot of transition points for us in the offense. AD, during the course of the series, particularly after game two, Memphis and Dillon Brooks said a lot of things. I know they said things on the court and stuff, too. That's kind of what they do. But I'm curious, did you guys make a conscious decision to not respond verbally over the course of the series? And I guess, do you feel like no response was warranted? I mean, people are going to talk. We've had some trash talk on the court in the series. But all the talking in the media and all that stuff, we just go out and let our game talk and play basketball. We try not to get into back and forth with those guys. Obviously, that's how a lot of times guys kind of get their stuff going. And the guys constantly talking, and you're not saying nothing back. There's nothing, and they're going to eventually stop. I think that's what kind of happened with Dillon Brooks. But we just wanted to let our game talk. Any time they step on the floor, just play basketball and let the rest take care of itself. Did Turner lose anything? No, not really. I think it was really Bron and Brooks kind of going at it. Well, Brooks trying to go at Bron and get him to say things or play differently, whatever. I don't know what his goal was. But Bron never ******* fell into it. And guys on our team just kind of seeing that and just no need to talk. Bron said some things in the media about he don't want to deal with that. He just want to play. I think guys just kind of probably just heard it and just kind of followed suit and didn't really worry about it. AD, when you see things from LeBron over to your right, when you see things from LeBron like a torn tendon in his foot or plays 40 minutes in a playoff game and he's sitting in his chair next to you exhausted, do you think, oh, yeah, he is 20 years in this game? And then does he do things to kind of make that thought go away? Yeah. I mean, the fast break reverse dunk, I was right there. And I thought he was just going to do a regular dunk and he did that. And I was like, damn. So that was one of those moments where it's like, all right. It doesn't affect him. But then like you say, you see him exhausted. It's like, I don't want to say it's the 20 years. But he just leave it all on the floor. And a lot of us are exhausted. Obviously, I had a little bit more miles on the bench. All of us probably combined. But we just try to do our part around it to make his job a lot easier. He don't have to overexert himself the entire game. And I think that's what happened tonight. AD, in the relatively short amount of time you've been together as a group after the trade deadline, how difficult has it been with you as the center of the defense to build the trust factor in the rotations? Or if you go after a shot, someone's going to box out your guy. How has that developed? Because tonight it looked like it was near perfect. Communication. Like I say, after the trade, we didn't have much time to practice or go over things. But we just always talk about whatever in the course of a game. The time that we do get to watch film and practice, we're in constant communication. And I think that was the biggest thing to kind of fast track our defensive schemes. Everybody wants to win. We know we got to leave it all on the floor. And just telling guys like, look, if your guy go by you, I'm going to be there to help. I just need you to protect me. All right, cool. Done. So God's just saying, if they do get beat and I'm there, now they trust me, which now I trust them. So now we all on the string. But all that just starts with communication. Last two. Allen. AD Dennis was just telling us in the locker room that from his first stint here with you guys to now, you in particular, your vocal leadership has grown and changed. Would you say that's a fair assessment? And in what ways do you feel that really benefiting the team now? Yeah. I try to grow leadership-wise every year. And just wanting to win. I know my voice is very important in the locker room alongside Bronx. And these guys lean on me to not only perform, but also talk to them. Guys come to me all the time and ask me questions. What I want on the floor? What do I see? And I just try to take a step every year, especially when they get into the postseason, to talk to the guys and let my voice be heard. So yeah, it's been a couple of years since then. The first thing with DS, but yeah, I think I've grown in that department. Hey, D. Last question, Melissa. When games didn't go your way this round, it seemed like you did anything and everything on the court to continue to help the team. And were a huge defensive presence in every single game. What has your growth been like since the championship run in 2020, just in terms of not getting down on yourself in those moments and keeping the main thing the main thing, as LeBron says? Just keep going. You're not going to have a game that you like every time you step on the floor. But playing with that energy, you can control. And I just try to control the things I can control. And that's playing hard, playing a lot of energy. Defense, I can't control the ball going in the basket every time. But on the defensive end, I can control a lot of things. And that kind of just fuels the offense. So no matter what I'm doing, I want to be able to leave a mark on the game defensively. And that can kind of fuel my offensive game and the team's offensive game. And also fuel on the defensive end for us as a collective. So I just next play mentality and just keep going and keep playing. And the rest will take care of itself.