Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis turned in arguably the best year of his career during the 2023-24 season as he assumed more leadership and floor responsibility.
Davis helped lead the Lakers back to the postseason, though the team bowed out in the first round. However, it was hardly the big man’s fault for their short playoff stint as he had a strong series against the Denver Nuggets.
Defensively, Davis was one of the best players in the league and was deservedly named to the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team.
However, he finished fourth in NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting, which made no sense to teammates like Austin Reaves, via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.com:
“He’s definitely lost in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation. In my opinion, he’s the best defender in the league. I can factually say my side of the story, but then you could look at the numbers of when he’s on the court and when he’s off the court with our unit and see the differences defensively for us. In my opinion, he’s the Defensive Player of the Year. He gets lost in that conversation. I don’t know for what reason. He played the most games he’s played in his career this year at 76. What we do wouldn’t work without him at all. He changes the game defensively so much. Offensively, every big man guarding him is always worried about him. When me and D’Angelo come off pick-and-rolls, we have more space and opportunity to create for ourselves and others because if I were another coach, my game plan would be not to let Davis catch the ball. What he does for us, I don’t think, gets talked about enough.”
Davis is one of the few players in the league that can defend any player in any scheme. As mobile big man with length and great defensive instincts, the 31-year-old is as versatile as they come and should have garnered more attention in the DPOY vote.
While Rudy Gobert was a worthy recipient for this year’s award, Davis deserves to get more recognition for the work he does on that end of the floor.
Anthony Davis credits trainers and offseason work for helping him play career-high 76 games
Anthony Davis played a career-high 76 regular season games this past year, a massive accomplishment for the Lakers star. He recently credited his trainers and the offseason work he put in to make it possible.