Maybe it’s the years spent on middling New Orleans Pelicans teams.
Or perhaps it’s the fact that sometimes, we don’t value defense enough (see: how we felt about Kawhi Leonard until he won a title last year).
Whatever it is, Anthony Davis hasn’t gotten the respect he’s deserved in a stunning NBA career.
On Tuesday night, he earned that and more in the Los Angeles Lakers’ Game 4 win over the Miami Heat, bringing his team within one win of an NBA Finals victory and a ring.
All night, he was on Jimmy Butler, an assignment that wasn’t easy after the Heat star exploded in Game 3. Butler finished one assist shy of another triple-double but scored just 22 points and was stopped in a key moment with under a minute left in the fourth by Davis:
AD blocks Butler to seal the deal #NBAFinals #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/798Rx6Ddl8
— Your NBA Podcast (@YourNBAPodcast) October 7, 2020
play this on loop whenever anyone brings up Giannis’ DPOY… AD took on the challenge locked down Butler ALL 4 quarters tonight pic.twitter.com/qdiCYugpTr
— M😷😷SE (@ogmooselv) October 7, 2020
His teammate, LeBron James, had this to say:
LeBron James on Anthony Davis tonight: "That’s why he’s the Defensive Player of the Year.”
Of course, AD was voted 2nd in DPOY voting (Giannis), but LeBron, Vogel, etc. felt he was the best player on that end.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) October 7, 2020
I agreed with that weeks ago. Davis has spent a bunch of the season defending smaller players on switches at the perimeter, a cheat code when opponents go hunting for mismatches with screens. Yes, Giannis Antetokounmpo had the numbers to back up his DPOY win. But when you can stick Davis on Butler and not worry? That’s truly valuable.
On the other end of the floor, here’s the three-point dagger to seal the win:
ANTHONY DAVIS DAGGER. pic.twitter.com/84hvs82iQG
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 7, 2020
Have you seen the stats from this series?
Anthony Davis' shooting in the #NBAFinals:
61% FG
55% 3-PT FG
100% FT🤯
(h/t @statmuse) pic.twitter.com/5Vye7O80uy
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 7, 2020
Anthony Davis' shot chart in the Finals is obscene pic.twitter.com/RzjgIjNTov
— Justin Phan (@jphanned) October 7, 2020
Anthony Davis is shooting 61/55/100 this Finals.
That's all folks. pic.twitter.com/1cGK3Bgktm
— StatMuse (@statmuse) October 7, 2020
My GOODNESS.
When I predicted a Heat upset (yes, I’ll admit I was so very, very wrong), I saw Bam Adebayo finding a way to keep Davis in check. He’s only played in two games in this series, but it doesn’t matter. With Davis adding a three-point shot in recent years, he’s able to hit from all over the floor. You can isolate him on the wing in the post, run screens to get him free from deep, and obviously when the half-court offense is on the move, he’ll get to the hoop for easy buckets. Also, check out some of these passes from Tuesday:
He gets my vote for Finals MVP right now. And maybe that plus a ring gets him the true respect he absolutely deserves.
