The arrival of Anthony Davis coincided with a major leap in the defensive efficiency for the Los Angeles Lakers and while he was not honored as the best defensive player in the league, his impact on the defensive end of the floor was properly appraised by the media members voting for the 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Davis finished No. 2 behind Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who took home the award for the first time. Davis earned 14 first-place votes but Antetokounmpo was the overwhelming vote-getter in that category, taking home 75 of the available first-place votes. Antetokounmpo finished 2nd in the Defensive Player of the Year voting last season, behind Utah’s Rudy Gobert. Gobert finished 3rd in the voting.
The Lakers finished 3rd overall this past regular season in defensive rating and through the first four games of their series against the Portland Trail Blazers, who posted the highest offensive rating in the seeding games, they are the No. 1 defense in the playoffs. Davis’ ability has a great deal to do with that but he should also get credit for tapping into LeBron James and challenging James to defend at a higher level than we’ve seen for him the past few years during the regular season.
