LeBron James fires back at Anthony Davis critics after LA Lakers victory over Phoenix Suns - ‘He doesn’t care’

LeBron James says Anthony Davis has paid no attention to recent criticism after seeing his team-mate star in the LA Lakers’ 100-95 win over Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.

Davis scored 30 points and 13 rebounds, while James played the entirety of the fourth quarter where he scored 10 of his 21 points to help the hosts to a dramatic win.

Despite this impressive display, Davis faced a stinging assessment from the likes of TNT Sports pundit Charles Barkley after failing to score in the second half of the Lakers' season-opening 119-107 defeat to Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

“Nothing bothers us, he doesn't care,” LeBron told TNT Sports after the match.

“I don't know if guys have figured that out, he does not care. He's not on social media, so he does not see that. He rarely talks, he just does his job and we're happy to have him here."

Reflecting on the match as a whole, he added: “We can still play better, but we're still a team that's trying to come together.

“We're trying to get better every day, there's a lot of room for improvement. Today was a good step in the right direction, but we've got to be better.

“We have everything we need, we've got practice, film sessions, we have everything we need to continue to get better. If we punch our clocks in every day, we'll be alright.”

Speaking during the Lakers’ match against the Suns, the focus was firmly on Davis, and Barkley was typically forthright in his assessment.

“I'm a little bit concerned because I want to see him play tonight.

“Man, you all played badly in game one, you [Davis] played badly, the Suns don't have their second-and-third-best players, and you got guys coming off the bench outworking your guys. But, the reason I'd be concerned is that this is the same sort of stuff we've been saying.

“At some point, you're the player you are. We can say he's going to do this, he's going to do that. You say that in year one, year two and maybe in three years, but after three or four years, you're the player you're going to be."

“We know what Anthony Davis is capable of,” Shaquille O'Neal added.

“At New Orleans three, four or five years ago, he was putting up big numbers and we were saying this is the Anthony Davis we want to see. We haven't seen him.”

The Lakers are back in action next Monday against Sacramento Kings.

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