NBA News: Suns Legend Suspects Anthony Davis Is Doing 'Something Wrong' Amid Injury Issues

A Phoenix Suns legend criticized the Los Angeles Lakers for letting Anthony Davis play despite him obviously being in pain.

The Lakers’ chase for their 18th NBA championship was halted by the Suns Thursday, and they have been officially eliminated in the Western Conference first round.

Davis, who missed Game 5, made a noble attempt to play and help his team win Game 6 despite still suffering from a groin injury. The Lakers big man didn’t manage to last an entire quarter, and though many believe it was a heroic moment at the Staples Centre, Suns all-time great Charles Barkley said he thinks Los Angeles did a terrible job in protecting “AD.”

“I can’t believe the doctors put him [Davis] out there,” Barkley said on “NBA on TNT.” “He should not even try. I don’t even know how they saw something in the warm up to make him think he could play. He’s a terrific kid, he’s a hell of a player but there’s no way he should’ve been out there.”

The famed NBA analyst further raised concerns over how Davis is handling his training, noting that he shouldn't be hurt as often as he is.

“I will say this, [the Lakers] they’re gonna sit him down this summer and say ‘yo man, there’s something going on with your training’,” the NBA legend stressed.

“You should never be hurt early in your career,” he added. “I always told people, from 22 to 32, you are superman. For [Davis] him to always be hurt, he’s doing something wrong. At this stage of LeBron’s career, Anthony Davis is gonna have to be the best player on that team if they are ever gonna be good again.”

Indeed, health played a huge role in the Lakers’ downfall this post-season, and Davis himself is well aware of it.

“It was different,” Davis told NBA’s official website after being out of contention. “All around the league, guy’s bodies didn’t handle that very well. But now we have the opportunity to take advantage of this longer offseason, to prepare for next season. I think health played a big part in why we’re in the position we’re. We were very healthy last year. Not this year.”

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel also admitted that the team was full of confidence in Game 4, and it drastically deflated since Davis’ ugly landing in Game 5.

"The Anthony Davis injury changed the series,” Vogel said. “Game 4, we had supreme confidence that we had taken control of the series, then Anthony goes down, and I think there was a bigger deflating effect. ”