Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Lakers big man has abandoned the three-pointer

By Sean Keane | Last updated 11/30/23

Lakers coach Darvin Ham wanted his big man to take six three-pointers per game. Anthony Davis has gone the other direction.

Since going 1-for-2 from distance in each of the Lakers' first three games, the Brow hasn't made a single three-pointer. He's barely attempted a triple, taking (and missing) just four shots from behind the arc since Oct. 29. Not only is Davis staying away from the three-pointer, he's also taking only eight percent of his shots from between 16 feet and the three-point line, about 30 percent fewer than last season.

Clearly Davis is less comfortable with his jump shot. His outside shooting is way down from the 3.5 three-pointers he averaged during the Lakers' championship run in 2019-20, when Davis hit a huge, game-winning three in the Western Conference Finals.

AD WINS IT AT THE BUZZER pic.twitter.com/pcAe63xESj
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) September 21, 2020

That was the last full season Davis shot better than 30 percent from long-range, and every year his attempts have gone down. He took 2.8 three-pointers per game in 2020-21, 1.8 in 2021-22 and 1.3 last year, before dropping to 0.6 per game this season.

Davis is still having a strong season, averaging 22.2 points, 12.3 rebounds and a league-leading 2.8 blocks. But his refusal to shoot from deep is a big reason the Lakers are dead-last in three-pointers. The team's spacing gets very bad when Davis plays alongside 28-percent three-point shooter Christian Wood, though those lineups have been solid defensively.

What this means for the Lakers is that it's hard to pretend Davis is anything but a center at this point in his career. When it's playoff time, it will be very hard for the Lakers to play AD with another big man in the frontcourt. Luckily, LeBron James is bigger and strong than most power forwards in the NBA. And James is shooting threes at the best rate (38.8 percent) of his career.

More must-reads: