When Anthony Davis is rolling he is as good as any big man in the league — and he was rolling Monday night in Charlotte.
Going against what’s left of the Hornets’ big man core, Davis was getting to the rim at will, finishing lobs from teammates, and he was 4-of-7 from the midrange — plus he dominated the glass — on his way to 42 points and 23 rebounds to lead the Lakers to a win in Charlotte.
AD STANDS FOR ALWAYS DOMINANT 😤
— NBA (@NBA) January 28, 2025
💪 42 PTS
💪 23 REB
💪 2 BLK
The first player to have multiple 40-20 games as a Laker since Shaq and LA gets their 4th straight W! pic.twitter.com/6QuCplRwI4
The points are nice, but what Davis really wants is a Defensive Player of the Year award — and he doesn’t think he has a chance to get it this year, he told Shams Charania of ESPN.
“I feel the narrative is being pushed for Wemby to get it, right? He’s averaging, what, like four blocks or something crazy like that [3.9], but then it goes back to, are we talking about just blocks? I don’t know how anything works anymore.”
Is Davis underrated as a defender? Maybe, although less in basketball circles than he might believe, everyone knows what he is capable of when dialed in. Is the narrative leaning toward Victor Wembanyama? Probably.
Wembanyama also has been a better, more consistent defender this season. I had Wembanyama as my mid-season Defensive Player of the Year and Davis wasn’t in the top three. There are reasons for that and it’s not blocks per game — although those blocks speak to how many more shots per game Wembanyama alters or forces a player to reconsider and not take. The last time I saw Wembanyama play in person was against Davis and the Lakers on Jan. 13, and twice that night, a Lakers player (Dorian Finney-Smith once, Gabe Vincent once) drove past a close-out into the lane to score at the rim or put up a floater, only to have to stop, pivot, and kick the ball back out because there was no way he could make a play with Wemby in the lane.
However, it’s more than the eye test. As someone who has been honored that the NBA has given a postseason awards vote in recent years, Defensive Player of the Year is one award where I talk to scouts and other people in the league more to get their thoughts because stats and my eye don’t capture the picture (Coach of the Year is the other). Those league sources back Wembanyama and how he changes the geometry of the court and the game in a way Davis does not (and scouts mention AD’s lack of consistency with his defensive play and effort).
The knock on both Wembanyama and Davis’ case for DPOY is that their teams are in the bottom half of the league in defensive rating, the Spurs are 18th and the Lakers 22nd. The difference is the Lakers’ defensive rating with Davis on the court is almost exactly the same as it overall — the Lakers are a bottom 10 defense when Davis is on the court, he’s not lifting his team up. When Wembanyama is on the court, the Spurs’ defensive rating improves to the point they are a top-10 in the league in those minutes.
This isn’t to say Davis is not a great defender and player (I voted him an All-Star starter in the West, and he would unquestionably be All-NBA if the vote were today). I get Davis being frustrated. But this isn’t all about the narrative.
