As of a year or two ago, doctors had told Anthony Davis that he still might grow a bit, but certainly by the time he turned 23 in March, the notion that he could get taller had largely been forgotten. Surprisingly, when Davis was recently measured by the Pelicans prior to training camp, the Chicago native came in at 6 feet, 11 inches, according to the fifth-year NBA veteran. Despite the inch increase, Davis maintains that he prefers to be considered 6-10.
“They measured us a week and a half ago and they said I was 6-11, which I don’t want to be,” Davis said in a visit with the Black Blue Report, while laughing good-naturedly. “I think 6-10 is the perfect height for me. Six-ten sounds perfect to me. I’m technically 6-11, but I’m (going to say I’m) 6-10. I will always tell everybody 6-10, I don’t care if I’m (really) 7-3. Scientifically, I’m 6-11. I grew an inch. Maybe it’s the (extra height of my) hair, I don’t know.”
Davis has been in excellent spirits since training camp began, partly due to his excitement about being back on the court after a six-month hiatus following a March left knee procedure. The Chicago native pointed out on the Black and Blue Report that he focused specifically on refining his physical mechanics during the summer.
“The knee’s feeling great, body’s feeling great, team’s looking great, so I’m excited,” Davis said. “I put in a lot of hours of rehab, trying to get it back to what it was. I feel like I’m more explosive, more quick. We corrected a lot of stuff that was wrong in my hips, knees, ankles, all that stuff. I feel better. I feel great, more explosive, more powerful.
“It was just the way that I’ve always been taught to play the game. I never had anyone correct me on how I should squat, how I should jump, or anything like that. Constant pounding and constant pressure on your knees when you’re squatting or jumping the wrong way, is going to stir some things up inside the knee.”
In addition to his slight height increase, Davis feels stronger after the work he put in this summer, in several different areas of his body. He now weighs 250 pounds; he’d like to stay between 247 and 250 during the season.
“Last year, I played at 243 or 245,” Davis said. “Right now, I’m 250. I’ve got see how I feel playing at that weight… I’ll test it out in preseason and see.
“Being able to work with some of our guys and correcting everything I do (helped). From shoulders to ankles, I didn’t do a lot of it last (offseason). Now my ankles and hips, glutes, shoulders are a lot stronger. Everything is stronger.”
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