National Basketball Association

Anthony Davis on not celebrating LeBron James' record: Nothing 'to do with Bron'

Published Feb. 10, 2023 1:55 p.m. ET

As everyone was on their feet and cheering when LeBron James broke the NBA's all-time scoring record on Tuesday, star teammate Anthony Davis was seen in a viral video doing the opposite.

The Lakers big man remained sitting down on the bench at Crypto.com Arena when James scored the bucket late in the third quarter of their loss to the Thunder to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Following Thursday's loss to the Bucks, Davis said that his reaction had more to do with the score amid the team's struggles.

"It's about the game," Davis said. "I mean, we're losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, a game we needed. And I was pissed off that we were losing. It's that simple. It's nothing that has to do with Bron. He knows that. Everybody else is outside looking in, it's their opinion. But I was pissed off that we were losing the game."

Davis later said that he was just walking back from the tunnel after checking out of the game less than a minute prior when he committed a foul that let the Thunder expand their lead to seven at the time. Davis also said that he called James to apologize on Wednesday and again during shootaround before their game on Thursday.

During TNT's broadcast of Tuesday's game, it played a brief moment between James and Davis, with the new all-time scoring champ telling the big man, "I'll just let you know I love you, bro. That's all I want you to know."

James' record-breaking moment came during a recent skid for the Lakers. They've gone 4-6 in their last 10 games and during halftime of Tuesday's game, there was reportedly a heated exchange between Russell Westbrook and coach Darvin Ham. Westbrook was moved as part of a three-time trade ahead of Thursday's trade deadline for three players (D'Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt).

Davis also struggled in Tuesday's game, scoring 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting but failed to assert himself over the 31 minutes he played. He bounced back a bit on Thursday, scoring 23 points and grabbing 16 rebounds as the Lakers lost to the Bucks without James.

Los Angeles fell to 25-31 on the season with Thursday's loss, placing them in 13th place in the Western Conference and 2.5 games back of the final play-in spot.

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