Anthony Davis has been sensational this season. He put up great numbers offensively and on the boards, and he remains a force on the defensive end. Even better, he played a career-high 76 games, even though he was usually listed on the Los Angeles Lakers’ injury report.
Yet, when the NBA announced its finalists for the Defensive Player of the Year award, Davis didn’t make the cut.
After 12 seasons in the league, time may be running out for him to win the award. He believes he will never win Defensive Player of the Year, perhaps because, in his mind, there is a bias against him.
Via ESPN:
“I’ll never get it,” Davis told 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.”
Despite Davis’ outstanding play this season, and even though he has remained healthy to this point and limited his poor performances, there remains a bias against him among fans. Plenty of fans still accuse him of being soft and inconsistent, among other things.
But he has maintained his confidence in his defensive abilities.
“I can block shots, I can help from the weak side, I can switch onto anybody, I can guard the pick-and-roll, I can guard the guard and get back on the big and break up the lob, I can guard the post, I can guard the pindown,” Davis told ESPN. “Whatever it is. Whatever it is defensively, I’m able to do.
“So, that’s my ability. My ability defensively is to do everything.”
It is safe to say Davis would rather win another NBA championship or two than any individual awards at this point.