Anthony Davis already has six All-Star appearances, an NCAA championship and an Olympic gold medal to his name, but the newly minted Los Angeles Lakers forward admits there’s still something missing.
“I don’t think I have a failure that I’ve had yet,” Davis told ESPN as a guest on That’s What She Said with Sarah Spain. “Obviously at the end of my career if I don’t win a championship that would be, I would feel that’s one of my biggest failures. But right now, I still have a lot to do in this world on and off the court.
“So I don’t feel like I’ve failed in anything. I think I just continue to do it over until I succeed at it.”
The former No. 1 pick hasn’t come close to an NBA championship yet. His teams made the playoffs just twice in his seven seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans, maxing out with a second-round loss to the Golden State Warriors in five games in 2018.
However, Davis’ relocation to L.A. to pair up with LeBron James via a trade last month could help fill the hole in his resume. The Lakers have the second-best odds to finish the 2019-20 season as the NBA champions at 4-1, according to Caesars Sportsbook, trailing only the L.A. Clippers (7-2).
The acknowledgement by the 26-year-old Davis jibes with the urgency felt by Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka. Following six straight seasons failing to make the playoffs — the longest drought in franchise history — Pelinka restated the team’s title expectations at Davis’ introductory news conference.
“For us, anything short of a championship is not success,” Pelinka said. “So we have to learn from last season, because we didn’t win a championship. And a lot of that went into the construction of the roster this year.”
Lakers fans just better hope that the theater-style lighting the team uses for its home games at Staples Center — where the spotlight is concentrated on the court, leaving the fans in the seats dimmed as if attending a Broadway show — doesn’t affect Davis’ performance.
Davis told Spain that he is scared of the dark.
“TV on, bathroom light on, some light has to be on (when he goes to bed),” Davis said. “I wish I wasn’t scared of the dark … I watched too many crazy movies when I was a kid and it messed me up for life.”