Anthony Davis. 5x NBA All-Star. 2017’s All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. 3x All-NBA First Teamer. 2018 All-Defensive First Team. 2x All-Defensive Second Team. 3x Blocks Leader. NCAA Champion (a VERY rare thing to say among the VERY many Kentucky Wildcats in the league today). 2012’s NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player. 2x USA Basketball Gold Medalist (2012 Olympics in London and the 2014 FIBA World Cup of Basketball in Spain). The Brow is the single most fearsome force in the league today when you consider that he’s not even technically entered his prime yet (he turned 25 in March). Davis did it all this past season, averaging career best numbers across the board: 28.1 points per game (second only to reigning MVP James Harden, and better than fellow All-NBA First Teamers LeBron James, Damian Lillard, and Kevin Durant), on 53.4% shooting from the field (good for top 20), 34.0% from 3, and 82.8% from the line. Also a career best 2.3 assists per game and 1.5 steals per (good for top 15 in the league. His non-career best numbers were still unreal: 11.1 rebounds per game (5th in the league) and 2.6 blocks per game. His block numbers lead the league BY FAR. Clint Capela came in second, averaging 1.9 blocks per, with Myles Turner, Joel Embiid, and Kevin Durant all averaging 1.8 blocks per game. He finished only second again to James Harden in Player Efficiency Rating (the rest of the top 5 being LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Giannis Antetokounmpo) and finished in the top 10 in Value Over Replacement Player.
Is there anyone as tantalizingly talented as Anthony Davis? At 25 years old, he has already led the league in blocked shots 3 times in his 6 year career. 2 seasons ago, he became the third player in the last 50 years to record 55+ points and 20+ rebounds (with Shaquille O’Neal and Wilt Chamberlain being the other two). When he was tapped to make Team USA’s Olympic Team, he was the first American player since Emeka Okafor (2004) to have competed in the Olympics without any prior NBA experience.
It’s really easy to talk about how good at Anthony Davis is at blocking shots, disrupting an offense, blowing up sets with his length, mobility, and general feel for the game, but what was relatively difficult was putting together the video, so I’ll stop right here and let you get to it. Enjoy!
Here’s Part 2: • Anthony Davis - Defens...