Anthony Davis Won't Be Rookie of the Year, But That Won't Stop His Ascension to Stardom It was less than a year ago when Anthony Davis was named the NCAA Championship's Most Valuable Player for the Kentucky Wildcats. Now, just 12 months later, he is considered one of if not the best rookie in NBA history.
Davis debuted on January 4th, 2017 by dropping 42 points on 14-of-16 shooting from the field in a 122-109 win over the New York Knicks. He went on to have another great season finishing first in MVP voting as well as being awarded with all-rookie honors. In addition, he was also selected to play in the 2018 NBA All-Star Game. Overall, it was a very successful season for Davis who has firmly established himself as a top-five player in the NBA.
1 De'Aaron Fox of the Los Angeles Lakers finished second in voting last year and could be an early favorite this year given his impressive performance during training camp. 2 Marvin Bagley III of the Sacramento Kings came in third place last year and should have an even better season this year under new head coach Luke Walton.
Anthony attended the University of Kentucky after graduating from high school, where he played for the Wildcats, coached by John Calipari, until the end of his second year. Davis eventually opted to forego the rest of his collegiate years and enter the 2012 NBA Draft in the summer before his junior year. He was selected first overall by the New Orleans Pelicans.
During his three years at UK, Anthony Davis played on two National Championship teams. In addition to being an all-league player as a sophomore and junior, he was also named the most valuable player of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. As a freshman, he started all 39 games for the Wildcats and was unanimously chosen by both coaches and players as the best newcomer of the year.
After going unselected in the 2011 NBA Draft, where many people believed he would be picked first or second, Davis decided to stay in school for another season. He was then invited to play with USA Basketball during the summer months. In August 2011, he helped Team USA win the gold medal at the 2011 World Championships in London.
In April 2012, just prior to his draft year, Davis entered his name into the 2012 NBA Draft. Many people expected him to go early in the first round but instead he was selected number one by the New Orleans Pelicans.
In his first season of college, Anthony Davis earned one national title with Kentucky in 2012. The 6'7" center from New Orleans led all scorers with 28 points in the championship game victory over Indiana.
He is a two-time All-American and National Player of the Year recipient. After playing one season at University of Arizona, he returned to Kentucky for another year before entering the 2014 NBA draft where he was selected second by New Orleans Pelicans.
Anthony Davis played only one season at Kentucky before becoming the No. 2 pick in the 2013 NBA draft. He started 32 games for the New Orleans Pelicans last season and was voted MVP of the league's finals. This year he became the first player in NBA history to be chosen MVP of the regular season twice when the award was given out at the end of the 2016-17 season.
He has been named to the All-NBA team each year since his debut. Last but not least, Anthony Davis is the first player in Kentucky history to earn consensus national player of the year honors.
After one season away from basketball, Anthony Davis returned to LSU for one final season in 2015-16.
He has seven NBA All-Star appearances and has been chosen to three All-NBA First Teams and three NBA All-Defensive Teams. He also won a gold medal with the United States Olympic team in 2012. Davis attended the University of Kentucky for one season, when he was a first-team All-American and the unanimous National Player of the Year. He then entered the 2013 NBA Draft where he became the third player in NCAA history to be unanimously selected as the No. 1 pick. The New Orleans Pelicans took him with the number one overall selection.
He played his first game on November 2, 2013, against the Utah Jazz, and scored nine points off the bench. In his rookie season, he was named to the All-Rookie First Team by the coaches and the Veterans Committee.
In 2014-15, Davis led the Pelicans to their first playoff appearance since 2011, when they made it to the second round before losing to the Chicago Bulls. That same year, he was again named to the All-Rookie First Team by both coaches and players. He was also named to the All-Defensive First Team for the first time.
In 2015-16, after missing the playoffs the previous two seasons, New Orleans made the postseason for the first time in three years by finishing eighth in the West. There they lost to the Golden State Warriors in five games.
Davis was chosen a reserve for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game on January 28. On February 3, he came close to a five-by-five with a 28-point, 10-rebound, 4-assist, 4-block, and 4-steal performance against the San Antonio Spurs.
He is only the second rookie in NBA history (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) to win the Rookie of the Year Award and the First Team All-Defense honor at the same time. The other player who achieved this feat is Stephen Curry. The last NBA player to do so before Davis was Michael Jordan in 1989.
Anthony Davis became only the third freshman in NCAA basketball history to be named consensus national player of the year after averaging 26.4 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.86 blocks per game. The other two players to do so in a debut season are Lew Alcindor (1963) and Larry Bird (1975).
Davis also became only the ninth player in NBA history to average a double-double throughout the entire season. The others are Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Anthony Davis is the NBA's top player. The Los Angeles Lakers are one win away from winning their 17th title as a franchise, and Anthony Davis is to blame. In Game 4, he was outstanding, both protecting Jimmy Butler and scoring some clutch jumpers down the line against the Heat's strong zone defense. He had 26 points by half-time and finished with 38. It was his first game this season without a triple-double, but that's not why we're talking about him being named MVP. No, we're talking about him being named MVP because he is absolutely incredible to watch play basketball.
He's 7'1", 250 pounds of muscle who can shoot over defenders and pass in traffic. He leads the league in minutes played (41.4 per game) and has done so since early in the season. When you combine his ability to score inside and out along with his leadership skills, there's very few players better than Anthony Davis in the NBA today.
He's been named MVP thus far this season, leading the New Orleans Pelicans to a 50-32 record through games on April 15th. They currently sit second in the West behind the Golden State Warriors.
Davis has already won two NBA championships with the 2017 champion LA Clippers, and he was also part of the 2015-16 team that lost in seven games to Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Copyright © 2020 - 2023 Sportsmanist Inc.
