Regularly affected by injuries, Anthony Davis is once again on the way back. except that this time, the 2020 champion has decided to surround himself with a very specific player to prepare for the sequel. not necessarily an expected client, but he is someone who knows his stuff.
To give you an idea, since 2017-18Anthony Davis no longer reached the bar of 65 games played in a campaign. This shows how the interior is regularly affected by physical glitches, to the point of downright missing half of the meetings last year (36 out of 72). Exceptionally talented, the former draft n°1 nevertheless remains a complicated case because it is highly fragile.
That hasn’t changed this season, as he’s already missed 17 games and been on the sidelines since mid-December. In question, a sprain of the knee ligament which prevents him from returning to competition. The period of absence should however soon be over, but doubts remain: will he stay long on two legs? To remedy this, he sought the advice of a former Purple and Gold: Jared Dudley. Passing through the Underdogs podcast, the Mavs assistant knows what The Brow has been going through for some time and had found a solution:
Jared Dudley, Privy Councilor to Anthony Davis
I lost 10 kg in one season due to injury, which was almost impossible to do at the time for the Lakers, and I wasn’t even playing. It’s funny, now AD has the same injury and now he’s calling me “Hey, how did you do it? Because he saw me. He spotted me in the weight room doing cardio an hour before practice. I was sweating profusely and it was time for practice.
The thing you see is that I couldn’t participate in training. It was reserved for the ten main players of the roster. But he saw me giving it my all and when their training was over, I could be found in the weight room working on my knee.
Long considered overweight because of his chubby physique, the journeyman (7 franchises) nevertheless managed to last no less than 14 seasons in the league, with the 2019-20 title at stake. Above all, he built an impeccable reputation wherever he went, both as a model teammate, but also as a hard worker. A hard worker in the shadows who always did everything to be ready, in case of need.
Having had a similar experience to AD, he is therefore fully capable of advising him on what to do to get back on top. Less heavy and therefore more agile, the ex-Pelican would also take shelter by imposing less weight on its joints. That he moves even better on the floor could also pose a big headache for his opponents, to the delight of LA. it remains to put this into practice.
Nothing beats the experience shared with a peer, and that’s exactly the adage that Anthony Davis applies in view of his return. Jared Dudley has never been a star, but he knows how to stay on two legs for a long time. So listening to it won’t hurt The Brow.
