Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis. Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

Anthony Davis shades LeBron James after opening night win

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Oct 23, 2024 4:44 AM ET

In his six previous seasons with the Lakers, LeBron James had many historic nights at the team's home venue. In Jan. 2020, he surpassed Kobe Bryant as the third-highest points scorer in history. In Feb. 2023, he broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's longstanding NBA scoring record. And last season, he became the first to join the 40K club.

The common theme with all those nights? The Lakers lost.

On Tuesday, James made more history in the first game of his seventh season as a Laker as part of the first father-son duo along with Bronny James. Only this time the Lakers won.

Anthony Davis couldn't help but throw shade at his teammate for making history on a victorious night.

"This is the first time we had a LeBron moment that was something huge and we won [laughs]," Davis said. "Every other time, we always lost, so it kind of kills the moment, but it was a special moment for everybody."

Anthony Davis:

"This is the first time we had a LeBron moment that was something huge and we won.”

(h/t @ohnohedidnt24)

pic.twitter.com/puO0ppGFnC
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 23, 2024

In March 2024, Davis similarly shaded James for breaking records in Lakers' losses. The clip of Davis speaking to his teammate on the issue was also featured in the "Starting 5" docuseries on Netflix.

All joking aside, the Lakers will be hard to beat this season if Davis continues to dominate on both ends of the floor like he did against the Timberwolves on Tuesday night. The nine-time All-Star finished with 36 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and a steal in his team's comfortable 110-103 victory over the Timberwolves.

Davis made a little history of his own, scoring the most points by a Laker in a season-opener since 2007.

AD's 36 points are the most by a Laker in the season opener since Kobe Bryant in 2007 pic.twitter.com/6yqHTNCLQM
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 23, 2024

Davis also made a way-too-early case for Defensive Player of the Year, a year after he felt robbed of the accolade. In his post-game interview on Tuesday, Davis said his numbers were "defensive player of the year type stuff" and then stared down at the camera, possibly imploring the voters to take notice of his nightly efforts in the 2024-25 season.

The Lakers will next host Kevin Durant's Suns and De'Aaron Fox's Kings in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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