Anthony Davis shatters harmful Mavericks offseason lie that fooled fans

Dallas Mavericks big man Anthony Davis isn't on board with the narrative that D'Angelo Russell isn't a winner, and he made that clear at Mavs Media Day on Monday.

Davis has played in 115 games with Russell as teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers, and he isn't buying any of the hate that is coming Russell's way before he plays a single game in Dallas.

"(There's) this narrative that he can't win, he's not a winner, but I've been close to him," Davis told reporters on Monday. "He came to me and told me that he's ready...He's very excited to be here to help us reach our goal. We're getting a motivated DLo, we're getting a guy who's ready to leave it on the floor each and every night."

Anthony Davis is all-in on the D'Angelo Russell hype train

Davis is clearly extremely confident in what Russell can bring to the Mavericks in his first season with the team, and Russell having a big season could quietly be one of the biggest swing factors of the season in the grand scheme of things.

Last season, during his time with the Brooklyn Nets and Lakers, he struggled. Russell averaged a career-low 12.6 points per game while shooting career lows from the field (39 percent) and downtown (31.4 percent). Despite this, Russell earned a two-year deal with Dallas thanks to their belief in being a strong stopgap guard while Kyrie Irving is out while also being able to play alongside him, and Davis is confident that he'll get back to being a high-level contributor this season.

Davis called him an "elite scorer" on Monday, and also talked about his ability to push the pace and desire to win. The narrative that Russell isn't a winner has been hanging over his head all offseason, especially by those that doubt his fit in Dallas, but he is in a great spot to put those murmurs to rest.

According to Davis, Russell had some offers to play elsewhere, likely for more money, but he joined the Mavs to "bet on himself." He now has the role of likely being the starting point guard for a potential contender in the Western Conference for over half of the season until Irving comes back, and after that, he'll be one of the first players off the bench.

If Russell didn't care about winning, he could've signed somewhere else for more money, but he chose Dallas. He wanted to be a Maverick badly, and according to a Media Day interview with Nick Angstadt and Isaac Harris of Locked On Mavs, he feels that the structure of the Mavs is something that will help him as well.

Russell stated that other stops in his career have had "limited structure," and he feels that the Mavs have great structure from the top to the bottom. He is in the perfect spot to help Dallas win right now, and this new situation should help him have a bounce-back year.

Russell is surrounded by elite defensive pieces, which should help him individually, as the Mavs are going to need him to defend at a high level. Success for role players in the NBA is all about fit and opportunity, and both of those boxes seem to be checked for Russell in Dallas as he enters his 11th NBA season.

Jason Kidd has already complimented Russell's voice in practice so far at training camp in Vancouver, and he is already laying a great foundation to silence the haters and be a key piece of the Mavs' push for their second title in franchise history.