Anthony Davis is every bit as good as everyone thought he was going to be leading up to the 2013 NBA draft. Jonathon Givony at Draft Express wrote this of Davis on Feb. 16, 2002:
Anthony Davis dominates the Lakers on Friday night
The big man, entering his second season, is terrorizing the NBA.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sport
Standing 6-10 in shoes, with a 7-4 wingspan, and arguably the most impressive blend of athletic tools we’ve seen in a big man prospect in our nine years evaluating the NBA draft, Davis is one of the most physically gifted players on this planet at the moment.
The scariest part about the New Orleans Pelicans -- aside from its horrifying bird-clown mascot -- is that The Brow is beginning to polish his freak-of-nature athleticism together into an aesthetically pleasing all-around game. On Friday night, Davis scored 32 points, collected 12 rebounds and blocked six shots en route to the Pelicans' third win of the season.
Davis knocked down jumpers, finished on pick-and-rolls, sunk 8-of-11 free throw attempts and anchored New Orleans’ defense in what was one of the most impressive performances of his young career.
“They were running to the wings, so I got a lot of easy dunks out of transition,” Davis told the Times-Picayune. “That’s something we’ve got to continue doing. I’m just trying to take what the defense gives me.”
With Davis at the line and time running low, the New Orleans crowd began chanting “M-V-P.”
It’s a little premature, but we might be seeing some foreshadowing here. Davis won’t be in the conversation this year -- or likely the next -- but he very well could supplant himself as a legitimate MVP candidate in the foreseeable future.
This is LeBron and Kevin Durant’s league, but Anthony Davis is the very best of that next age group of rising stars.
Anthony Davis took one step inside the free throw line and dunked from the dotted circle. And he made it look effortless.
— Paul Flannery (@Pflanns) November 9, 2013
That right there is Davis catching a pass behind the free throw line. He takes two massive strides before launching off two feet from the semi-circle just inside the charity stripe. A normal human can’t do that on a 7-foot goal, but Davis is no normal human.
Effortlessness isn’t a traceable stat -- though I don’t put it past the brightest mind’s in basketball analytics to create something off the sort -- but if it were Davis would surely top the league alongside LeBron and Durant.
He glides through the air, extending his go-go gadget arms to block shots 12 feet in the air. He rolls smoothly off pick-and-rolls, catches the ball, puts it on the ground once and attacks the rim with ease. He shoots jump shots with the aesthetics of a wing player.
On Friday, it was all on display and it was a beautiful thing to watch.
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