Before the 2023–24 NBA season began, Anthony Davis revealed that his goal this season was to play in 82 regular-season games. This was unbelievable at the time, given that AD had never played in more than 75 games in his 11 seasons in the league. But he was determined to shake off this early-career reputation as an injury-prone player. And he did exactly that playing in 76 games for the first time in his career. However, while AD’s durability has been a welcome surprise for the Los Angeles Lakers, it has also put a dent in Stephen A. Smith’s wallet.

In a recent episode of The Stephen A. Smith Show, the veteran analyst revealed his bet with NFL legend turned basketball analyst Shannon Sharpe over whether AD would play more than 65 games this year, which, spoiler alert, SAS lost. “All NBA first team Anthony Davis played 76 games this year. Phenomenal. Never thought. Lost my bet to Club Shay Shay Shannon Sharpe. I got to take his a– out to dinner tomorrow night in LA cuz I lost my bet and I got to pay up, and he’s busy bragging about some dry steamed wagyu beef that’s for like 3,200 bucks that he’s going to order on my dime just because I lost the bet,” said the millionaire analyst.

Thanks to AD’s durability this season, he is now in line to win his first Defensive Player of the Year award. The Lakers may have underperformed on the defensive end, finishing the regular season with a 114.8 defensive rating, good enough for 17th place in the league. But Anthony Davis kept up his end of the bargain, averaging a career-best 12.6 rebounds this season. The Lakers power forward limited the opponents to only 47.3 shooting overall (-2.4%) and 56.4% shooting from less than six feet (-7.5%). Moreover, he also contested the third-most shots per game (11.2) in the league and ranks fourth in blocks (2.3).

However, while Anthony Davis has been relatively healthy this season, he might not lace up for the Lakers play-in game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday. This, according to SAS, is a ploy to avoid the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Are the Lakers trying to avoid the Denver Nuggets?

The Los Angeles Lakers are in a pickle right now. Following their regular-season finale victory over the Pelicans, the two teams are slated to meet once again tonight for the play-in game. Now, if the Lakers end up winning the contest, they will then face the Nuggets in the first round. A team that the Lakers have lost eight consecutive games to, including a clean sweep in last season’s Conference Finals. But if they lose, they stand a chance to enter the playoffs as the eighth seed and play against the No. 1 seed, the OKC Thunder. Facing the Thunder in the first round gives the Lakers a better chance at making a deep run since OKC is a relatively young team and has lost three of their four games against the Lakers this season.

Given what’s at stake, Smith suggests that the Lakers are trying to tank since both AD and LeBron James are mentioned in the injury report. “I’m not accusing the brother of anything I swear but don’t you find it a bit convenient that those back spasms kicked in the second he [Anthony Davis] knew that all I got to do is win Tuesday night against New Orleans and Denver is our first-round opponent. You think the Lakers did all of this to go home in the first round?” said Smith.

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AD left the regular season finale six minutes early after aggravating his back spasm and is now listed as questionable for tonight’s game. Meanwhile, James’ status is probable due to an ankle injury. It would prove a task to win without both AD and LeBron on the floor; considering they are the two lead scorers for the team. Do you think the Lakers are trying to purposefully throw away the game?