Los Angeles Lakers fans have not even celebrated their team's record-equaling 17th NBA championship yet and their squad is less than two weeks away from embarking on their title-defense journey. Lakers' big man Anthony Davis agrees.
"It is crazy to not be able to celebrate and kind of have a parade with the fans and the city, but it is something that we have to just get through and be able to come out and defend our title as well as make sure we stay fresh and be ready for Friday," said Davis while speaking to reporters.
It is just over two months since the Lakers clinched the 2020 NBA Championships in Game 6 against the Miami Heat. "It is a quick turnaround, especially for us and Miami but there is nothing we can do about it and we got to be ready. We are kind of going slow to get back in the swing of things," admitted Davis.
With a very short offseason, Davis himself made it clear he doesn't want to rush into things. "We've seen, unfortunately, how football went with no preseason, shorter season, and a lot of injuries happen. You don't kind of want that same thing. So I'm going build up the right way. Coach has been doing a great job of doing that with our team, building up the right way," he said.
The Lakers star is relying on his training team to keep him calm and ensure he is smart about coming back from a curtailed offseason. But there is something else that worries Davis even more. With no signs of pandemic going away soon, Davis emphasised that everyone in the orgsation will have to be accountable for keeping things safe.
"It's going to be a lot tougher, to be honest. The bubble, you knew you were safe. Here, you just don't. I mean, the league has sent all these guidelines about not going to bars and restaurants and clubs and all this stuff to try to make it safe for us. We don't want to go into a season or a playoffs series without a guy because he was careless about COVID and now he is gone for ten days," said Davis.
The defending champions open their preseason and tip-off the season against city rivals LA Clippers on December 12 and 23 respectively.
( With inputs from ANI )
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