Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis is fed up with the NBA for leaving him off the NBA Defensive Player of the Year ballot.
The NBA recently announced their three finalists for each of this season’s slate of NBA awards. Davis was not among the three for DPOY. Instead, the league listed Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert, San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama, and Miami Heat lynchpin Bam Adebayo as the three finalists.
Los Angeles Lakers Star Anthony Davis Is Done Trying To Chase The DPOY Award
Davis was recently asked about being snubbed for even being in consideration for the award. The Lakers frontcourt player admitted that he has felt slighted by the NBA over being overlooked and added that he believes he’s at the very top of the list of the league’s best defenders.
“I’ll never get it,” Davis said about the recent snub, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “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.”
Davis averaged 1.2 steals and 2.3 blocks per game across 76 contests for the Lakers this season. But his defensive impact has always gone beyond the already lofty box score figures.
Anthony Davis May Finish His Career Without A Defensive Player Of The Year Award
Davis has the length and size to defend any center with ease. He also has the lateral quickness to stay with guards and forwards on the perimeter.
The Lakers big man has been a defensive Swiss army knife throughout his entire career but has yet to win a single Defensive Player of the Year plum. He got closest during the 2019-20 season, when he finished second behind Giannis Antetokounmpo for the award.
Davis has earned four all-defensive team nods and has three block titles over his career. But with the emergence of Wembanyama, whose 3.6 blocks per game during his rookie year is nearly an entire block higher than Davis’ career high, the Spurs star could very well claim ownership of the award for the foreseeable future.