Los Angeles Lakers All-NBA Second Team center Anthony Davis is currently a threat to usurp All-Star Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and steal his starting spot on Team USA this summer at the 2024 Paris Olympics. No matter who starts, that club is the heavy favorite to claim its fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball.

That would cap off quite the run for Davis.

The 6-foot-10 Kentucky product earned his first All-Star appearance in three years and his first All-NBA and All-Defensive accolades in four, thanks to his healthiest NBA season ever in 2023-24. The future Hall of Fame big man essentially emerged as L.A.’s best player, once and for all wrestling away that moniker from 39-year-old All-Star forward LeBron James, who once again is his Team USA colleague.

Across 76 regular season contests with L.A., Davis logged averages of 24.7 points on a .556/.271/.816 slash line, 12.6 boards, 3.5 dimes, 2.3 blocks and 1.2 swipes a night.

This summer, the Lakers hired a new head coach, drafted a pair of intriguing young guards (including one — first round pick Dalton Knecht out of Tennessee — who seems likely to play right away), re-signed a pair of their own free agents, and watched two others walk. And that’s the sum total of their moves.

Last year’s Lakers went 47-35 and fell in the first round of the playoffs to the Denver Nuggets. With basically the same roster heading into 2024-25, will the club truly be any better? The team is clearly hoping that just the presence point guard Gabe Vincent and power forward Jarred Vanderbilt, two reserves who missed most of last season, will give L.A. the kind of internal defensive growth it’s seeking.

Will that be enough for Davis, who at age 31 appears to be at the tail-end of his prime?

During a new conversation with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson on his program “Scoop B Radio,” Fox Sports’ Rob Parker weighed in regarding whether Davis should ask out if the team’s 2024-25 season starts off slowly.

“I think he’s the future of the team. I don’t think he does,” Parker opined when asked about Davis potentially demanding to be dealt. “I don’t think he’s going to get together, I really don’t. I’m not expecting much from the Lakers and especially looking at the West and they’re locked and loaded with a lot of good teams. Just too much change, too many changes of coaching; J.J. Reddick could wind up being [six-time Indianapolis Colts Pro Bowler-turned-interim head coach] Jeff Saturday… we don’t even know, you know what I mean?  [laughing]  So it could be a disaster and then the dynamic with Bronny [James]; how does that fit in? And LeBron forcing him into the lineup and minutes and how do his teammates react… it’s just a lot of stuff there that could blow up and be toxic. It really could be.”

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