Lakers star Anthony Davis is sick of DPOY award snub: ‘The league doesn’t like me’

Ever since Anthony Davis first stepped into an NBA court back in 2012, he’s proved to be one of the best defenders in the league. Unfortunately for him, he hasn’t made the Defensive Player of the Year shortlist to the trophy, an accolade he’s never earned throughout his 12-year career. 

During an interview this Monday, the Lakers center criticised the fact that he’s never really been considered part of the race, as he believes it’s a personal issue, not athletic. “I’ll never get it,” Davis said. “They’re not giving it to me.”

“The league doesn’t like me. I’m the best defensive player in the league. I can switch 1 through 5. I can guard the pick-and-roll the best in the league, from a big standpoint. I block shots. I rebound,” he explained. “I don’t know what else to do. I’m over it. I’m just going to do what I got to do to help the team win and try to play for a championship. Accolades and individual awards, I’m done with those.”

Anthony Davis is sick of the DPOY disrespect pic.twitter.com/l1MgSTPyHC

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 22, 2024

Even though his numbers are slightly below some of the award finalists such as Rudy Gobert, AD clearly believes that his stats should add up to DPOY consideration.

“I can block shots, I can help from the weak side, I can switch onto anybody, I can guard the pick-and-roll, I can guard the guard and get back on the big and break up the lob, I can guard the post, I can guard the pindown,” he told ESPN at the start of the week.

The Wolves big man is currently leading the NBA in defensive win shares, which is a metric that counts for all defensive stats to approximate a player’s total defensive value. Believe it or not, Anthony ranked 80th in this department.

Despite this, the Los Angeles big man knows his worth, as he’s averaged 2.3 blocks and 1.2 steals per match, while playing a career-high 76 games. “Whatever it is. Whatever it is defensively, I’m able to do. So, that’s my ability. My ability defensively is to do everything,” he insisted.

The Lakers are currently trailing 2-0 against the Nuggets, after a heartbreaking-buzzer beater by Jamal Murray

Unfortunately for the California franchise, Murray was inspired in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 of his 20 points for the Nuggets in this final stage. His buzzer-beater became just the third winning shot to complete a comeback this big in a playoff game in almost 25 years.

“We have stretches where we just don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the floor,” Davis expressed, convinced to know exactly why they didn’t win. “And those are the ones that cost us.”

With the series 2-0 against the purple and gold, the Los Angeles squad must now take advantage of their homecourt as they head to the Crypto.com Arena. “Protect home,” LeBron James said. “That’s where my mindset goes. And obviously, the only game that matters now is Game 3 and how we can get better. How we can figure this team out. So, Game 3 is where my mindset is.”

Despite losing, the Lakers saw lots of improvement this Monday evening. “We did a lot of good things that gave us an opportunity to win all night,” D’Angelo Russell expressed. “Came down to some things that we really couldn’t control. I like our fight.”