Wait, so Anthony Davis’ lost voice wasn’t an excuse?

Hey, everyone, I’m Dan Woike and welcome back to the Lakers’ newsletter. Listen carefully, because we’ve got ourselves a good one this week. I’m back from the All-Star break, recovered from the Indianapolis 500 (inches of snow) and ready for the final run to the playoffs.

So let’s get right to it — but shhhhh, I’m gonna whisper.

Voices carry?

We got an unexpected word from a Lakers’ staffer pregame that Anthony Davis wasn’t going to speak postgame because, well, he couldn’t speak.

Davis woke up Thursday morning in San Francisco and found that his voice had escaped out of town, forcing him to strain to whisper.

Maybe it was some kind of excuse or exaggeration. It, after listening to Davis postgame, was not.

He sipped tea in the locker room as he tried to explain how he didn’t even feel sick — just that he couldn’t talk. Knowing that he was having a hard time communicating, I asked Ham if he thought, especially against the Warriors, having his primary defensive communicator silenced had an effect.

“Definitely. You have to cover it up,” Ham said after the 128-110 loss. “You’re not going to get through a game like this with that type of firepower with that type of head of the snake, in terms of Steph [Curry], without everyone talking and being alert and ready and doing our work early and being in position early.

“It’s not going to be a cookie-cutter game plan. It’s going to be times where you’re going to play perfect defense and they’re going to score. It’s times when you have to give multiple efforts and you have to yell and communicate with your teammates. Him having a little trouble with his voice tonight definitely impacted the game. My hat’s off to him. He still came out and did the best job he could under the circumstances.”

Ham went on to say it’s on everyone, not just Davis, to be communicating on defense. Another one of the primary talkers, LeBron James, missed Thursday’s game as he recovered from ankle treatment. He’s expected to play Friday night against the San Antonio Spurs.

Some context here as people immediately reacted to this like it was Ham making an excuse instead of offering a nuanced explanation:

In modern NBA defenses, it’s imperative that the backline defenders are your loudest communicators, particularly on pick-and-roll plays because they’re signaling to defenders where the screen is being set. And that defender, with his eyes on the attacker, is blind to the pick.

Postgame in the locker room, while talking to Davis and Austin Reaves about Davis’ whispers, I wondered how much it mattered.

“It matters,” Reaves said with a laugh. “Didn’t know where a screen was coming all night.”

Is this why the Lakers lost to the Warriors? Of course not.

But can something as simple as a player losing his voice have, what I’d consider to be, interesting ripple effects that affect the game — 100%.

The things that matter in a game aren’t always shouted — sometimes, they’re whispered.

Times Lakers Show

We’ll be back on YouTube next week after a little bit of a hiatus, and we want to hear from you. What are your biggest questions after the All-Star break? What do you think can be done to save All-Star weekend (if you feel it needs saving/or should be saved)?

Respond to the email here and we’ll mention them on the show.

Song of the week

“It’s Oh So Quiet” by Bjork

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“Careless Whisper” and “Voices Carry” were already referenced in the newsletter. “Don’t Speak” was under consideration, no doubt, but let’s go with Bjork’s cover of “It’s Oh So Quiet” because it’s a crazy weird song with an awesome Spike Jonze video that you can find with a little searching. Also, it’s the Lakers’ defense.

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