Anthony Davis isn’t holding back about this year’s Defensive Player of the Year race. The Lakers star thinks the NBA is pushing hard for Victor Wembanyama to win it – and he’s not too happy about it.
“I feel the narrative is being pushed for Wemby to get it,” Davis said in a candid interview. “He’s averaging, what, like four blocks or something crazy like that, but then it goes back to, are we talking about just blocks?”
It’s a sore spot for Davis, who at 31 has somehow never won the award despite being one of the NBA’s most versatile defenders.
“I’m the best defensive player in the league,” he declared last year. “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’s got a point. Davis came painfully close to winning DPOY in 2020, the same year the Lakers won it all. But Giannis Antetokounmpo took home the trophy instead.
The frustration has been building for years.
“I’ll never get it,” Davis said bluntly. “They’re not giving it to me. The league doesn’t like me.”
Just this December, he questioned how the award is even judged. “Some guys have won it just for leading the league in blocks,” Davis told Fox Sports. “I’ve done that a couple times and haven’t gotten it. So is it about team defense? Individual defense? What numbers actually matter?”
Meanwhile, Wembanyama is putting up monster numbers in his rookie season. The 7-foot-4 French phenom is already the betting favorite for DPOY.
But Davis thinks there’s more to defense than just highlight-reel blocks. The question is: will voters agree with him this time around?
The race isn’t over yet, but Davis seems to have already accepted what he thinks is inevitable – another year without the defensive recognition he believes he deserves.
