Your Los Angeles Lakers may not be trending in the right direction, after having suffered their fourth loss in six games last night against the New Orleans Pelicans.
However, superstar Lakers big man Anthony Davis appears head in the opposite direction. He’s playing the best basketball of his season, right now.
Davis has been spectacular all month long, and they’ll need more of it for the remainder of the season. His offense has been a revelation, but one thing that remains consistent with the former champion is his defense. It is his best trait as a basketball player, and he seems to be even better on that side of the ball.
Although that is his best trait, Davis has yet to be recognized for his ability to win Defensive Player of the Year. In his 12-year career, Davis’s best finish in that category was second, which last came in 2020.
It’s been long overdue, and Lakers head coach Darvin Ham believes his time is now.
There’s nothing Davis can’t do on the defensive end; he can guard 1-5, he can defend in the perimeter, he can guard in the paint, he creates steals, he blocks any shot, and he alternates a ton of shots that don’t appear on the stats sheet.
39-year-old All-NBA point forward LeBron James may be the most valuable player on the team, but Davis is undoubtedly the most valuable defender on the team, as Ham stated. The only thing Davis can do from here on out is to continue doing his thing on that side of the ball. There’s no one better than him in that category, and he showed it on Saturday night against Minnesota’s big man who somehow won three Defensive Player of the Year.
Davis’ time is now, and we’ll see if the voters will finally give him the love he rightfully deserves.
