Anthony Davis turned in the best season he’s had since joining the Los Angeles Lakers, playing a career-high 76 regular season games in the 2023-24 campaign.
Davis has constantly mentioned he wants to play as many games as possible and he made good on his promise and helped lead the Lakers back to the postseason. Although Los Angeles didn’t get past the first round, it shouldn’t diminish the season Davis had.
Defensively, Davis was one of the most impactful players in the league though he didn’t crack the top-three in voting for NBA Defensive Player of the Year. While Rudy Gobert ended up winning his fourth DPOY, Davis was rightfully recognized as a member of the NBA’s All-Defensive First-Team.
Taurean Prince benefitted from having Davis guarding the paint behind him and said the superstar big man should’ve gotten more consideration for DPOY in a recent interview with our own Trevor Lane. “Yeah, 100%,” Prince said. “We on the team know who AD is.
“But that’s more than just an individual accolade, in my opinion. The person who got it in Rudy is on a team that’s winning exceptionally well throughout the season consistently at that time. We had a lot of ups and downs, so I think that plays a big part in it when you have people voting on that. Awards are something that are just something to look at, but nothing that really predicts the facts, in my opinion, all the time.”
Prince brings up a good point that DPOY is more than just an individual award. The Lakers’ lack of perimeter defense forced Davis to make more mistakes than the other candidates. Los Angeles’ lackluster record also likely played a role in Davis’s being left out of the finalist list.
At this point, Davis is unlikely to win the award unless he puts up another similar season that leads to more wins for the purple and gold. However, the league knows that Davis is one of the most dominant defenders in the game today and is worthy of more respect from voters and his peers.
Teammates should always have each other’s backs, and like Prince Austin Reaves believes that Davis doesn’t get enough credit for his defense. Reaves went even so far to say that Davis is the best defender in the league and that he should be talked about more for how great he is on that end.
