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9 Hours After Lakers’ $186,000,000 Anthony Davis Extension, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Wilt Chamberlain Comparisons Creep In

Published 08/05/2023, 5:50 AM EDT

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The Los Angeles Lakers are clearly looking to revamp their roster for the upcoming NBA season. Apart from some smart free agent signings, the team’s front office went on to sign Anthony Davis to a huge extension. Davis landed the richest annual extension in NBA history with his recent deal. AD signed a three-year/$186 million extension that will keep him with the team till 2028.

After signing an extension, analysts were quick to throw Anthony Davis into the argument for the best Laker bigs. And names like Shaquille O’Neal, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were thrown around.

Anthony Davis gets compared to Lakers bigmen

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Anthony Davis was one of the best bigs in the league up until a certain time. And the same can still be said for him only when the bigman is healthy. Davis has dealt with numerous injuries in the past few seasons.

USA Today via Reuters

Yet the Lakers backed their bigman and offered him a huge extension. Following the deal, Nick Wright and a few NBA analysts went on to talk about Davis.

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One of the co-hosts asked Wright if Davis made the cut for being considered one of the best among the likes of Shaq, Wilt, and Kareem. To that, Wright said, “The problem for him is that the all-time Laker big man list is the all-time NBA big man list.

He went on to add, “So that’s a hard party to get into that’s like mostly top picks.

Wright went on to make the case for Davis in terms of competing in the Western Conference against Nikola Jokic.

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Does AD belong next to Shaquille O’Neal and the rest?

Anthony Davis is as unstoppable as one can be in the league when it comes to bigmen. He ability to overpower defenders does play a huge role.

On top of that, Davis can be a force to reckon with on the defensive end as well. He’s a great shot blocker who knows how to lock down the paint. AD also manages to put fear in opposing players trying to finish around the rim.

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But the only problem comes down to his health and how injury prone he has been. And the question of whether he deserves to be in the best Lakers bigman list is perhaps too early to answer.

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Written by:

Abhishek Dhariwal

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Abhishek Dhariwal is an NBA writer at EssentiallySports with a background in journalism and mass communication. Abhishek uses storytelling along with feedback gathering to curate elegant and exclusive content for ES. His writing covers a wide range of topics, from in-game coverage to off-court activities of NBA stars.
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Edited by:

Bilal Handoo