Anthony Davis has ‘stopped caring’ about winning Defensive Player of the Year
Anthony Davis has yet to receive the Defensive Player of the Year Award and the Lakers star has made peace with the possibility that it will never be on his resume.
Anthony Davis has been an elite defender for the Lakers for years now. Whether you do the eye test and watch how he protects the rim and can switch onto even the best guards, or you look at him leading the team in blocks last season.
His defensive dominance has helped him earn All-Star appearances, NBA championships and even an Olympic Gold Medal, but one thing he hasn’t earned is the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
During an exclusive interview with Melissa Rohlin of Fox Sports, AD discussed his defensive prowess and how he’s moved on from wanting to win the award.
“There’s nothing that I can’t do defensively. I can switch one-through-five. I’m one of the best at guarding pick-and-rolls, an elite rim protector. Whatever you need me to do defensively, I can do. I honestly just stopped caring about it. But I’m not sure why I haven’t received one yet, even though I’m in a conversation about it every year. At this point, I’m kind of just over it. I’m focusing on winning a championship.”
This isn’t the first time Davis has mentioned being done with caring about this accolade.
After a dominant performance against the 2022-23 NBA DPOY, Jaren Jackson Jr. AD mentioned being uncertain of what he needed to do to achieve this accomplishment. During the Lakers’ playoff run last season, he called himself “the best defensive player in the league” and even said then he’d given up pursuing the award.
This has certainly become a “control what you can control” situation for AD. Yes, it’s an individual award, but one others vote for it. He can play as well as anyone, but if the voters love Rudy Gobert or Victor Wembanyama more, it won’t matter.
AD also discussed how he’s unsure what the voters are looking for and what else he needs to do to satisfy that criteria.
“I couldn’t even tell you,” Davis told FOX Sports. “I think the goal post just moves sometimes. Some guys throughout the years have been awarded Defensive Player of the Year because they had the most blocks in a season. 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?
It’s not only vexing that Davis hasn’t won the award, it’s that he’s not even in contention. Last season, he wasn’t named a finalist for DPOY, even though he made a strong argument given how dominant Davis was defensively and how poor the Lakers were on that side of the ball whenever he was off the floor.
If AD never wins DPOY, he just might be the best defender in NBA history to have not won the award. Hopefully, at some point, the general NBA acknowledges his defensive dominance.
Until then, he has the right attitude of continuing to be his best self and aiming for the Larry O’Brien trophy instead of hardware he can only earn based on people’s opinions.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.