Anthony Davis never played 70 game a season

[BigKAT]

As a really young player, does this concern you for the future?

This may sound a bit like over simplifying it,

But I think one of the best qualities for All-time-greats?

They stayed on the court. Stayed healthy.

MJ - Except for one season (his 2nd) he played about 80 games in all of his first eight seasons.

Lebron - It took lebron 12 seasons to play under 70 games. (Lockout season not taken into account.)

Kobe - Played nearly all of his first 3 seasons, experienced some injuries in his career but mostly stayed on the court.

Even if we go down a notch, Let's look at KG. A player AD often gets compared to.

80, 77, 82, 47, 81, 81, 81 , 82 etc.. One injured seasons. That's it.


But Anthony Davis?
64, 67, 68 and then 61.

It's very, very difficult to make the playoffs in the west with your best player not playing at least 72-75 games imo.

If this is his youthful years, what can we see from him in the future? The next T-mac? An explosion of potential that might be derailed by injuries?

I like Anthony Davis. But the future looks bleak imo if a 19-22 AD can't stay on the court.

[Annyong!]

Sure, but bigs are more likely to be injured. The KG comparison is fair, not the others.

[ISHGoat]

While I agree with OP's points in general, we should note that players and organizations are also more conscious regarding long term health and durability. Perhaps AD was not rushed back to playing as they would have done in the past.

[egokiller]

I didn't realize KD played that many games each season. What a beast.

[HenryGarfunkle]

He's the most mentally and physically fragile player in the league and it's not close. In other words, he's a p[COLOR="Black"]us[/COLOR]sy and that won't ever change. AD won't be an all-time great. He be an all-time disappointment.

[BigKAT]

I didn't realize KD played that many games each season. What a beast.

KD's first few seasons -

80, 74, 82, 78, 66 (Entire lockout season) , 81.

You mixed up KG with KD perhaps, but they both played almost all of the avaliable games.

[BigKAT]

While I agree with OP's points in general, we should note that players and organizations are also more conscious regarding long term health and durability. Perhaps AD was not rushed back to playing as they would have done in the past.

Something that you are right about is the Organization's priorities.

I'll concede that when your team is not even remotely close to the playoffs, you're more lienient with resting your players, especially stars.

Which has been the case with the Pelicans/Hornets in 75% of AD's seasons.

[Annyong!]

While I agree with OP's points in general, we should note that players and organizations are also more conscious regarding long term health and durability. Perhaps AD was not rushed back to playing as they would have done in the past.

Also, some of those were blatant tanks after missing the playoffs.

[ralph_i_el]

I think part of it is that his team has coddled him and held him out longer than necessary because he is so valuable, but they haven't been contending so why bother to play him if it means it might hurt him more.

Also, he missed a decent amount of games because Austin Rivers elbowed him in the head. That's a freak accident.

[Papaya Petee]

Great points, but we should also look at the fact that Anthony Davis has been surrounded by some bad rosters in his career, and has had to carry a lot for such a young player.

Not everyone is LeBron.
If AD can bring it up to 70-74 games a year he's fine.

[bdreason]

I think coaches and GM's really need to think about playing these 1-and-done kids less minutes/games their first couple seasons. The 82 game season is torture on their bodies, especially for kids who are still physically developing.

I read that Luke Walton is going to bring Brandon Ingram off the bench and limit his minutes, at least early in the season. You need to think of these guys as long term investments, and if their bodies can't handle the grind, you need to limit their PT.

[BigKAT]

I think coaches and GM's really need to think about playing these 1-and-done kids less minutes/games their first couple seasons. The 82 game season is torture on their bodies, especially for kids who are still physically developing.

I read that Luke Walton is going to bring Brandon Ingram off the bench and limit his minutes, at least early in the season. You need to think of these guys as long term investments, and if their bodies can't handle the grind, you need to limit their PT.

That's actually a pretty smart idea.
Not to be a jackass, but Ingram's body does not look like is ready to go 30 mins a game. Perhaps easing players into rebuilding is better then chucking minutes at them.