Lakers’ Anthony Davis Absurdly Omitted From List Of Finalists For
Unquestionably a top-three defender in the NBA, All-Star big Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers has been one of the finest defenders in basketball since he set foot on an NBA floor in 2012.
He is one of the best perimeter defenders in his position because of his exceptional speed for his stature and ability to guard the rim, which is essentially generational. It follows that his four-time selection to the All-Defensive Team and three-time league block leader status are not surprising.
This season, AD played a career-high 76 games during the regular season, yet the league and media inexplicably excluded him from the Defensive Player of the Year Finalist list.
Even if LA’s subpar team defense is used to criticize Davis, Davis may also benefit from this argument. Unlike guys like Rudy Gobert and Bam Adebayo, who rotate with numerous excellent to excellent defensive players, he had a lot more work ahead of him. Davis does not play with any teammates.
Victor Wembanyama likewise had poor team defense, yet he was a finalist none the less. Davis’s metrics were among the league leaders in every category mentioned above, which further reinforced his excellent performance from an optical standpoint In the league, defense is difficult to predict
because of the difficult-to-measure concept of a deterrent impact, which suggests that players refrain from driving at them and trying shots over them. This increases the value of counting statistics, which favor Davis. However, all three finalists have compelling arguments; Davis only has one more.
