NBA FINALS: LAKERS VS. HEAT

October 8, 2020

Anthony Davis

Los Angeles Lakers

Practice Day

Q. Anthony, just curious how you go to bed tonight, like your mindset, thinking about one win away from a championship. Do you just try to stay focused on the game at hand, the task at hand? What's your mindset?

ANTHONY DAVIS: Just try to keep the same routine, try to change nothing. Obviously this is an important game for us, an important game for the Heat, but we try to go out there and do the same thing we've been doing to win three games. My focus is the same, try to stick to the same routine, watching a movie before bed, go to sleep, wake up and just kind the do the same thing that got me here, that got our team here.

You can't really put too much pressure on yourself and start overthinking and overdoing things just because it's a close-out game. But we know the importance of this game from both sides. We're going to have fun with it.

Q. AD, you guys are 4-0 wearing the Black Mamba uniforms. You've spoken several times about the feeling you get wearing it and wanting to honor his legacy. A close-out game is a difficult enough challenge as it is. Are you guys putting any extra burden on the opportunity of Friday night by also trying to stay undefeated in those uniforms?

ANTHONY DAVIS: If we come out and do what we're supposed to do, then we can remain undefeated. We just think that for all the things that happened this season, with our team specifically and our organization, that to be able to close it out in the Black Mamba uniforms will just make it all worth it. Obviously his legacy in the NBA and then just with the organization, period, is something special, and for us to, like I said, close it out in his honor is something that we look forward to, something that -- an insane amount of pressure for sure, but we don't want to lose, we don't want to let him down. Every time we lose in the jerseys, we feel like we've let him down, and we don't want to do that. We want to remain undefeated.

But if we come in and do the things that we're supposed to do on both ends of the floor, then we can remain undefeated and close this thing out and make this moment even more special.

Q. Obviously you talked about the strides you wanted to make in Game 3. You made a lot of those strides in Game 4. Do you feel like you've locked into your process of how you can be the type of player you were in Game 4 in every game for the rest of this series?

ANTHONY DAVIS: For sure. It starts with me just getting back to the defensive end. Once I'm locked in defensively, covering for guys, blocking shots, talking, everything else just kind of falls in place for me and for the team. If I'm playing with energy, it kind of just trickles down to everyone else, and we seem to play well. We get that confidence offensively, we get that confidence defensively.

We love challenges. Like I say, it's not going to be an easy challenge for us to close it out, but if we come in and guys are locked in to what we're supposed to be doing on both ends of the floor, starting with myself and Bron, then we think we have a pretty good chance of winning tomorrow night.

Q. AD, Rob [Pelinka] finished seventh in the Executive of the Year voting. He only got one first-place vote. He's been very open about collaborating with you, collaborating with LeBron, collaborating with Frank. Do you think that willingness to collaborate maybe muddies what he's done and his thumbprint on this organization? And what's it been like working with him all year to build the team and to get to this point?

ANTHONY DAVIS: Great GM, great executive. You know, maybe. But I know we -- I know and the entire organization knows the work he's put in to put this team together, to build this team, to compete for a championship and to be one win away. I know those awards don't matter to him; championships do. We're putting ourselves in a position, he put our team in a position to be able to be one win away. Once we finish our job and do what we're supposed to do, then I don't think no one is going to care about Executive of the Year.

But his willingness to talk to me and Bron and Coach Vogel about decisions and whatever else that we talk about, he includes us in a ton of things, and I think that's what a GM, an executive should do, include his top two guys and include his head coach.

If that doesn't get him that award, then so be it. And it would just make it even more special to win it now that I know he came in seventh and got one first-place vote. That's kind of been a thing this year with myself with Defensive Player of the Year, LeBron with MVP, now Rob with Executive of the Year. But if we're able to win one more game, then no one cares about those other awards. We'll all be champions.

Q. AD, you just mentioned it right there. At the end of the day the championship is all that matters, but does that kind of add a chip to your shoulder? Does it add a chip to LeBron's shoulder if some of those individual awards you guys don't get? Does that almost in a sense help to go and strive for that ultimate championship, which I know you guys are doing anyway, but does it add an extra element to it?

ANTHONY DAVIS: I can't speak for Bron, but it does for myself, especially on the defensive end. I feel like I put in a lot of work on the defensive end, being able to guard multiple positions and different actions, and so anytime I play on the defensive end I try to lock in and get a stop every time.

But like I said, those individual awards obviously have meaning, you never want to take away from those, but at the same time the ultimate goal for every team is to win a championship. People can talk about winning MVPs and things like that, but I think you get remembered most by winning a championship, being a champion. I think that if we're able to close this thing out, then that's what people will remember. I don't think people are going to remember individual awards as much as they remember championships, and that's our mindset, just go out there and win.

Q. AD, LeBron talked about how Game 4 was one of the most important games of his career. I'm curious after 10 NBA Finals, why do you think it was that significant to him, and what's the significance of all of this right now to you?

ANTHONY DAVIS: I don't know why it was his most important game or why it was significant to him, but for me, I want to win my first title. I want to win my first ring. He's been there several times. He told me that it was a must-win game, Game 4 was, and I told our team. All you can do is trust the guy that's been in that situation 10 times. We all believed in him, we all trusted him, and we tried to make sure that we go out there and complete the task.

I'm not sure we're going to get one of those same messages, and I don't think we really need it. I think we all know that tomorrow night is also a must-win for us, just as much as it is a must-win for the Heat, which is going to make it even more fun for both teams. It's been a great journey for me. It's been great battling with these guys night in, night out, every other day, from the regular season to being in the bubble, just being with these guys and this coaching staff and competing and learning and figuring out ways that we can be better.

My journey has been great. This definitely means a lot to me. But as far as why Game 4 was the biggest playoff game of LeBron's career, we haven't talked about it, so I really don't know.