All Lakers

Lakers' Anthony Davis Absurdly Omitted From List Of Finalists For Major Award

This decision is really hard to defend.

Martand Bhagavatula

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

One of the best defenders in basketball since he first stepped on an NBA court in 2012, All-Star Los Angeles Lakers center Anthony Davis is without a doubt a top-three defender in the NBA.

His ability to protect the rim is more or less generational, and his uncanny quickness for his size makes him a top perimeter defender at his position. To that end, it's no surprise that he's a four-time All-Defensive Team member, and has led the league in blocks three times.

This year, despite playing a career-most 76 regular season games, AD was left off the Defensive Player of the Year Finalist list, an indefensible decision by the league/media.

The argument against Davis would be LA's poor team defense, but that argument also works in his favor. He was faced with a heavy burden, contrary to players like Bam Adebayo and Rudy Gobert, who play alongside multiple good-to-great defensive players. Davis plays alongside none.

Poor team defense is also the case for Victor Wembanyama, but nonetheless, he was a finalist. Optically, he was highly impressive (as were his counting stats), but Davis was amongst the league leaders in every stat listed above, strengthening his case.

Defense is tough to get a read on in the league due to the idea of a deterrent effect, which implies that players avoid driving at them and attempting shots over them, which is a hard statistic to measure. This makes counting stats (which favor Davis) even more valuable, but there's a strong case for all 3 finalists – Davis just has one too.

More Lakers: Darvin Ham Uncertain Of When Critical Defender Will Be Back

Published
Martand Bhagavatula
MARTAND BHAGAVATULA

Martand is currently a student at the University of Southern California, and has prior experience in the NIL space, sports financial advisory, and publishing in sports analytics. As a Lakers, Chargers, and Angels fan, he often finds himself disappointed.