The 2018-19 season was disappointing for the Los Angeles Lakers. Rob Pelinka and the front office realized that they needed to add another star & hence brought in Anthony Davis.
A year later the Lakers are champions, and the duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis are torching other teams in the NBA. Davis’ addition has been one of the most vital additions for the ‘Purple & Gold’.
He has given the team a boost both offensively as well as defensively. He was arguably one of the best players in the NBA averaging 26.1 points, 3.2 assists and 9.4 rebounds per game. With an aging star in LeBron, we might be seeing AD taking the throne soon.
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Former NBA Champion picks Davis in the MVP race
While the Lakers might be the favorites to win the title this season, the same cannot be said about the MVP race. According to odds, Luka Doncic is the favorite, while LeBron and AD are fourth and fifth, respectively.
Former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins in his recent appearance at ESPN’s The First Take said that Anthony Davis will become the MVP for the upcoming season.
He said, “It’s time for LeBron James to pass the torch and I think we saw it last year that it went to Anthony Davis. Coming into this season with a short turn around in the off-season we won’t see a lot of LeBron he probably won’t be playing a lot of minutes but Anthony Davis will.”
“With the supporting cast that he has, he is going to tear the league. This is a guy that is a generational talent. We have never seen nothing like Anthony Davis.”
“Not the skill set. Not the way he takes people to the outside, shoot three-pointers, take you on the low block, offensive rebound, defensive rebound, switch one through five. He’s going to be on a mission.”
“I think the Lakers are going to feature him, they are going to go through him and LeBron James right now I guarantee you, he won’t have a problem with passing the torch. I strongly believe that Anthony Davis is going to win the MVP this year. He’s my pick because he’s just unstoppable.”
Can Lakers’ Anthony Davis Really become the MVP?
It is very rare in the NBA to see a player from a team with two or more superstars becoming the regular season MVP. The biggest example for this is the Golden State Warriors, where three of their stars were phenomenal in the regular season but nowhere near to becoming the MVP.
This will be the biggest challenge for Anthony Davis. Davis already had a great regular season but was outdone by the individual brilliance of Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden.
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Both Harden and Antetokounmpo are the go-to players in their team. That is not the same in Lakers who two superstars in Davis and LeBron. In order to become the MVP, Davis will have to average monstrous numbers in the regular season.
With such a short off-season, the Lakers might rest ‘The King‘ for some matches. This will be crucial for Davis to lead the team and might be the thing he needs to be the standout star of the team.
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The odds might be against him, but given the skill-set of Davis, there is absolutely no doubt that he can be the MVP for the upcoming season. Who do you think will be the MVP?
