LOS ANGELES — The only thing sunnier than the Southern California weather is Anthony Davis.

Last month, Davis said that if he hadn’t gotten injured last spring, the Lakers would have won their first-round playoff series with the Phoenix Suns, who won three in a row to take the series in six games and eventually advanced to the NBA Finals: “I think we know that, I think they know that and I feel like they really do know that.”

This year’s group, he said, would be capable of winning a championship if it was healthy throughout the season, he told Fox Sports: “I think we could’ve done extremely well.”

Davis was also the player who said “we’ll be fine” on multiple occasions after losses, who infamously said the Lakers were capable of winning 10 straight games, who said Sunday afternoon as the Lakers continued to slip in the standings of 62-win Phoenix: “a team that’s playing well but also can be beat.”

If there is a silver lining, Davis will be the one to find it. But the Lakers’ standing in a 31-47 season is challenging some of his most sincerely held beliefs about the roster he’s a part of and its potential.

It’s actually easy to see how relentless positivity is a tool for Davis, who has now missed 75 games over the past two seasons due to injury. He’s been sequestered for long stretches in rehab and conditioning cycles, during which doom and gloom threaten to cloud an athlete’s mind without the ability to influence events on the court.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been in that situation several times, and this year, twice where I feel like it’s out of my control, to a certain extent,” he said in March. “Landed on my foot and then someone fell into my knee but I’ve learned over the years when I’m rehabbing to kind of just, like you say, to just put myself in this quote, unquote bubble and lock in and try to get back as soon as possible.”

When Davis is on the court, he makes an unquestionable impact. In Sunday’s game – just his second since mid-February due to a right midfoot sprain – his fast-paced start on both ends kept the Denver Nuggets off-balance. It took roughly a half for Denver and MVP candidate Nikola Jokic to recover. Meanwhile, Davis fought through pain that was undoubtedly affecting his performance, but he muscled through it.

Seeing his determination to play, to give the Lakers any chance possible, was all Coach Frank Vogel said he could ask for.

“You see him wincing, and you see him struggling,” he said after their sixth consecutive loss. “We’re trying to use him as much as we can without overdoing it. … He’s not 100%, but he’s giving us everything he can. He’s playing with a lot of heart. I’m proud of him. We just keep falling short.”

Davis’ efforts to keep the season alive seem to underscore his sincere belief that the Lakers were merely snakebitten, rather than flawed. While others including Vogel, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook have hinted at inconsistent roles, wonky chemistry and even underwhelming role players, Davis steadfastly has said this group would have been a contender when healthy – even though the team is just 11-11 when he and James have played together.

“Guys feel like, ‘OK, what could we have been if I was healthy all year, Bron was healthy, (Kendrick) Nunn was healthy,’” he said Sunday. “You think about those things. We put this team together and it looked good on paper, but we haven’t had a chance to reach that potential with guys in and out of the lineup.”

In that light, Davis might also be Vogel’s most high-profile ally. While Westbrook has feuded with his head coach and James has remained relatively neutral about supporting the head coach he won a championship with just 18 months ago, Davis said he felt for Vogel’s challenge this season.

“When you don’t have myself or Bron in the lineup, then things change,” he said. “So I think that’s the biggest difference, just not being able to coach a full team that we put together the last two years. Whereas our first year, we were extremely healthy and we knew exactly what we were doing. Guys knew their roles, knew their minutes, rotations. But it changes game-to-game now depending on who is in and out of the lineup.”

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That question continues on Tuesday night, when the Lakers visit Phoenix. Both James and Davis are questionable, though Davis has said his foot injury is an issue of pain tolerance rather than a risk of further issues. While it’s not clear how Phoenix might choose to rest players with home-court advantage locked up through the entire postseason, it’s easy to imagine that they could relish the chance to push the Lakers out of the playoffs after being irked by Davis’ comments last month.

However the season winds up, Davis seems determined to go out with the glass-half-full view. On Sunday, he was asked about how he’s come to view the play-in tournament, which the Lakers memorably complained about last season when they were the No. 7 seed.

“The last two years, we were in it last year and are fighting to get in it this year so I can’t say I hate it. It gives us a chance to get in the playoffs and try to win the championship. So it’s been good.”

Added Davis with a laugh: “But it would be better if we’re in it. If not, then I hate it.”

Maybe no Lakers season needs Davis’ levity more than this one.