Some people believe Los Angeles Lakers superstar big man Anthony Davis was snubbed when he wasn’t named as a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year award. Davis himself felt disrespected that he wasn’t seriously considered for the honor.
He just completed what may have been the best overall season of his career so far. He averaged 24.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 2.3 blocked shots per game while appearing in a career-high 76 games. He was as consistent with his production on a game-to-game basis as he has ever been.
Davis was rewarded on Tuesday by getting named to the NBA’s All-Defensive first team along with Victor Wembanyama, Herb Jones, Bam Adebayo and Defensive Player of the Year winner Rudy Gobert.
The complete voting results for the 2023-24 Kia NBA All-Defensive Team: pic.twitter.com/k3FODNJ0YU
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 21, 2024
This is the third time Davis has been named to the All-Defensive first team and the first time since the 2019-20 season. Even though he has been injury-prone, it is at least somewhat surprising he has been named to that squad only three times in 12 seasons.
He is not only an outstanding shot-blocker and rim protector, but he also can switch out onto the perimeter and guard players at different positions one-on-one. That is something very few big men, past or present, can effectively do.
