Lakers' Anthony Davis says his personal goal is to play all 82 games this season

Anthony Davis has played just 76 games over the last two seasons

Anthony Davis hasn't been the same since the Lakers won the 2020 championship. A shortened offseason after the Orlando bubble coupled with a few nagging injuries have not only lowered his stats but have also kept him off of the floor for most of the past two years. In total, he has played just 76 regular-season games since winning the title, but this season, he's set an ambitious goal in the hopes that it can lead the Lakers back to the promised land. "My personal goal is just, one, as much as I can, play all 82 [games]," Davis said in an interview with Spectrum SportsNet at the Lakers' media day.

For obvious reasons, Davis almost certainly won't play 82 games. Putting aside the fact that he hasn't reached that total in the past two seasons combined, very few players in the modern NBA ever play 82 games. Load-management typically limits starts to 75 or so even at full health. A player like Davis, who has suffered several injuries in his career, should typically expect to play less.

The goal for the Lakers is probably quite different. While the team likely wouldn't mind Davis missing 15 games over the course of the season, their priority is probably keeping him healthy in March and April, when their games start to count. If the Lakers make it back to the postseason, their hopes rest on having a healthy Davis. The version of him that plays 65 games is likelier to be healthy and fresh in April than the one that plays 82. 

Ultimately, health is going to determine how successful Davis is or isn't this season. If he can't stay on the floor, nothing else the team does will matter. But his definition of health and the team's seem to differ, and it will be up to Darvin Ham and the team's medical staff to manage Davis throughout the season.