Anthony Davis Is Officially an Alien
Before we dive into some of the more unthinkable stats Davis unleashed in the first few games of his fourth year in the league, let's all stare, mouth agape, at his raw numbers.
Over six games, Davis has averaged 30.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.5 steals, and a league-leading 3.2 blocks a night against some stiff, disciplined defensive competition. Again, those are averages: he got 50 points and 16 rebounds in the season opener against Denver.
And yet the New Orleans Pelicans still have yet to win.
When you are literally carrying your team. Photo by Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Early indications are that the best 23-year-old in the NBA needs to do everything every night or his team will embarrass themselves. That's a sad but accurate truth, and we've already seen it at work: when Davis only scored 18 on 15 shots against San Antonio, his team lost by 19. He currently has more Win Shares than LeBron James, whose team is undefeated.
There are several other candidates on better teams who deserve early MVP consideration (Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, James Harden, LeBron James, etc.), but Davis's ability to stay efficient while producing numbers that don't seem real means he deserves recognition, even while everything around him burns to the ground.
https://sports.vice.com/en_us/artic...-the-nba-season/?utm_source=vicesportstwitter
Before we dive into some of the more unthinkable stats Davis unleashed in the first few games of his fourth year in the league, let's all stare, mouth agape, at his raw numbers.
Over six games, Davis has averaged 30.0 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.5 steals, and a league-leading 3.2 blocks a night against some stiff, disciplined defensive competition. Again, those are averages: he got 50 points and 16 rebounds in the season opener against Denver.
And yet the New Orleans Pelicans still have yet to win.
When you are literally carrying your team. Photo by Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Early indications are that the best 23-year-old in the NBA needs to do everything every night or his team will embarrass themselves. That's a sad but accurate truth, and we've already seen it at work: when Davis only scored 18 on 15 shots against San Antonio, his team lost by 19. He currently has more Win Shares than LeBron James, whose team is undefeated.
There are several other candidates on better teams who deserve early MVP consideration (Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, James Harden, LeBron James, etc.), but Davis's ability to stay efficient while producing numbers that don't seem real means he deserves recognition, even while everything around him burns to the ground.
https://sports.vice.com/en_us/artic...-the-nba-season/?utm_source=vicesportstwitter
