Even though Victor Wembanyama is the statistical pick to conquer this season’s Defensive Player of the Year, Anthony Davis is convinced that the media is trying to push for him to earn it, despite there being other worthy candidates to win this highly-contested award.
The Lakers big man is also convinced that he should’ve earned one of those titles by now, and in recent times he’s been growing more and more outspoken about the fact that he hasn’t been recognized for his defensive talents yet, at least as he thinks he deserves. Last year, for example, he said that the league had something against him.
“I’ll never get [Defensive Player of the Year],” AD expressed at the time. “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.”
"I feel like the narrative is being pushed for Wemby to get it."
– Anthony Davis on DPOY
(h/t @ClutchPoints )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 27, 2025
Back in December, he was at it again, complaining to Melissa Rohlin of Fox Sports that he’s not being judged with the same standards as his peers. “I think the goal post just moves sometimes,” he started out. “Some guys throughout the years have been awarded Defensive Player of the Year because they had the most blocks in a season.”
He then asked: “I’ve done that a couple of times and haven’t gotten it. Or is it about team defense? Or is it about individual defense and what numbers do you have on the defensive end?”
AD came close to winning the DPOY award in 2020, when the purple and gold club conquered the NBA championship, but he ended as runner-up to Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even though the Bucks All-Star had the numbers in his favor, the Lakers veteran was just as worthy of winning the accolade.
In a recent interview, Davis pretty much ruled himself out of the DPOY race this year because he believes the league wants Wembanyama to win
The truth is, not enough credit has been given to the 31-year-old for his defensive over the course of his career. Which is probably why in a recent interview with Shams Charania, he anticipated that Victor Wembanyama is going to earn this title over him this 2024-25 campaign.
Even though the sportbooks already have the French center as a heavy favourite, AD believes it is all because of the NBA’s new narrative, and not necessarily because of Wemby’s performances.
“I feel the narrative is being pushed for Wemby to get it, right,” Anthony told the ESPN insider. “He’s averaging, what, like four blocks or something crazy like that, but then it goes back to, are we talking about just blocks? I don’t know how anything works anymore.”
