AD denies intentionally disregarding LeBron's historic shot
With LeBron James on the verge of NBA history, Anthony Davis sat on the bench while his teammates and the sold-out crowd at Crypto.com Arena stood up in anticipation of the record-breaking moment.
Davis remained there without much reaction as James surpassed Kareem Abdul Jabbar's all-time scoring mark.
Um… what??? pic.twitter.com/ITehJK8rYk
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) February 8, 2023
However, Davis insisted his body language at the time wasn't a reflection of his feelings toward James. He explained he had just returned from the players' tunnel after blowing off some steam and was unaware of James' point total.
"It's about the game," Davis added Thursday after the Los Angeles Lakers' 115-106 defeat to the Milwaukee Bucks, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "I mean, we're losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a game we needed. And I was pissed off that we were losing.
"It's that simple. It's nothing that has to do with Bron. He knows that. Everybody else is outside looking in, it's their opinion. But I was pissed off that we were losing the game."
The big man added he has since apologized to James for the misunderstanding. L.A. went on to lose the game 133-130.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham briefly addressed the incident following Thursday's contest.
"I'll just say what's being reported is not the case, and I'll leave it there," Ham said, according to The Athletic's Jovan Buha.
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