Lakers star Anthony Davis believes the league won’t ever honor him with a Defensive Player of the Year accolade.
It may be tough to find a better defensive player around the NBA other than Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis. Davis has been one of the best defensive players in the league for some time but despite this fact, he has never won the Defensive Player of the Year honor.
However, even though the honor has missed him, Davis isn’t too concerned. He said that he is more focused on winning a championship with Los Angeles rather than on getting some individual awards.
“I’ll never get it,” Davis told Dave McMenamin of ESPN when asked about the award. “They’re not giving it to me. The league doesn’t like me. I’m the best defensive player in the league. I can switch 1 through 5. I can guard the pick-and-roll the best in the league, from a big standpoint. I block shots. I rebound.
“I don’t know what else to do. I’m over it. I’m just going to do what I got to do to help the team win and try to play for a championship. Accolades and individual awards, I’m done with those.”
The Lakers know the worth of Davis better than anyone and he is their defensive MVP. When he was on the court last season, Los Angeles held opponents to 60 percent on layups and dunks, good for the ninth-best percentage league-wide. But when Davis sat on the bench, that number jumped up to 65 percent, which would have been good for 29th around the NBA.
He also ranked in the top 10 of the NBA in field goal percentage allowed in the paint, field goal percentage allowed on post-ups, and field goal percentage allowed in isolations. His mere presence on the floor brought a poor Los Angeles defense together, helping them to at the very least be able to get by.
The Lakers will continue to rely on Davis this coming season and his role may change a little. With the lack of depth that Los Angeles has in the frontcourt, Davis will likely be given an even bigger role on the defensive side of the floor.
But it isn’t anything he can’t handle and head coach JJ Redick is looking to push the envelope with his star. If the Lakers can get their defense ranked to even league-average, they could find themselves competing for a title. Much of that rests on the play of Davis but by now, we should know not to doubt his abilities.