Anthony Davis has been stellar for the Los Angeles Lakers so far this season. He’s played in 20 of the team’s 21 games, and is averaging 27.8 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game on 54.2% from the field and a respectable 35.7% from beyond the arc. His early performance has put him in the MVP conversation a quarter of the way through the regular season.
However, Davis’ name has been the subject of award conversation for the better part of a decade now. He has been a consistent Defensive Player of the Year contender and has had his name pop up in MVP conversations a few times. But through 12 full seasons, he has yet to actually take home one of the major awards.
He is a nine-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA and All-Defensive team selection and has won the NBA’s block crown three times. But Davis tries to not put his focus on the individual accolades, instead putting team success at the forefront of his motivation, according to Melissa Rohlin of Fox Sports:
“The MVP stuff and all that stuff will come whenever it comes, if it comes,” Davis told FOX Sports. “It’s not like I’m going to dominate so I can win MVP. I think a lot of times when players focus on winning an individual award, they get lost in that and not focusing on team basketball.
“If I had the mindset, oh, I have to win the scoring title, I have to average 30 [points] every game, then I’d be forcing shots and doing things just to score 30, just to get the scoring title, just to try to get MVP — and now my team is losing. As long as my team is winning and playing the right way, that’s my MO. I don’t care about anything else.”
Even with that said, it would be impossible for Davis not to be frustrated by the lack of recognition for his work defensively. The Lakers superstar is certainly confused about the criteria to take home that award:
“I couldn’t even tell you,” Davis told FOX Sports. “I think the goal post just moves sometimes. Some guys throughout the years have been awarded Defensive Player of the Year because they had the most blocks in a season. I’ve done that a couple of times and haven’t gotten it. Or is it about team defense? Or is it about individual defense and what numbers do you have on the defensive end?
“There’s nothing that I can’t do defensively. I can switch one-through-five. I’m one of the best at guarding pick-and-rolls, an elite rim protector. Whatever you need me to do defensively, I can do. I honestly just stopped caring about it. But I’m not sure why I haven’t received one yet, even though I’m in a conversation about it every year. At this point, I’m kind of just over it. I’m focusing on winning a championship.”
Davis is not only one of the best defensive players in basketball year in and year out, he is one of the best players on that end of the floor in this generation. As he says, there is nothing on defense that he can’t do. And yet, the attention for Defensive Player of the Year has gone to traditional paint protectors like Rudy Gobert, other versatile big men like Draymond Green and even a guard in Marcus Smart.
Davis can both be frustrated and confused by that, while still putting team success above all else. And if the Lakers can find a way to make some noise this season, that could undo all of the issues he has with award voting.
Anthony Davis discusses recent offensive struggles
Much of the talk for the Lakers following their loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves centered on the team’s offensive struggles. Anthony Davis and LeBron James combined for just 22 points, and the Lakers managed just 80 points total, a season-low, on 40.5% shooting from the field.
This has been the case more often than not lately as the Lakers, who are averaging 114 points per game this season, have scored 105 or fewer in five of their last six games. And in assessing what is going wrong for the team, Davis pointed to a couple of issues like lack of organization and spacing.
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Los Angeles Lakers(96) - Minnesota Timberwolves(103)
