The Los Angeles Lakers officially began their title defense on Sunday in Game 1 of the first round against the Phoenix Suns. Ahead of that tilt, Lakers star Anthony Davis had a message for all the haters who think he's soft.

Via Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register:

“I don’t give a (expletive) – it’s as simple as that,” he said. “If there are people who say that, most of them probably never were in the game. I really don’t care.”

There are plenty of people who criticize Davis for not wanting to play center much during the regular season. He also has the tendency to fall all over the place and has a history of dealing with a lot of little injuries, even if they aren't all that serious. In addition, his injury recovery this season went longer than many expected.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
lebron james dangelo russell lakers anthony davis nuggets

Michael Corvo ·

Lakers' Darvin Ham and LeBron James frustrated, with Nuggets' Jamal Murray smiling beside them

Jedd Pagaduan ·

Lakers Darvin Ham and Anthony Davis amid loss to Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic in NBA Playoffs

Jay Postrado ·

But, as Davis notes, he doesn't care about any of that noise. He knows he'll be there and ready to play center when it matters in the playoffs. The Lakers' lineups with Davis at the 5 are typically more deadly, and that was especially true in the play-in tournament against the Golden State Warriors.

Davis didn't play well in the first half against the Suns, but the Lakers were better when he was playing center. We'll see how often Frank Vogel deploys AD at the 5 moving forward and if those units are as strong as expected.