Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images Lakers PF/C Anthony Davis returns to New Orleans for the first time since being traded in the offseason.
Anthony Davis is playing inspired basketball right now.
Did you see his return to New Orleans against his old Pelicans team?
His stat line? 41 points and nine rebounds in 37 minutes of action. The Lakers also got the 114-110 win at Smoothie King Center.
LeBron James added 29 points, 11 assists and five rebounds for Los Angeles. Kyle Kuzma chipped in with 16 points and five rebounds.
The Los Angeles Lakers now sit at 16-2.
Anthony Davis is playing good basketball and is a walking NBA Jam video game.
The Chicago native is averaging 26.1 points, nine rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.8 blocks per contest.
His stat line in the blocks department is really an eye-opener. Through Thanksgiving, Davis,26 has a career average of 2.4 blocks per game. This season he has totaled 48 swats.
The first overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft has his eyes set on winning both an NBA Championship and the Defensive Player of the Year Award. “We want to make sure that when we come in, we have one goal in mind and that’s to come together and win a championship,” Anthony Davis told me in September.
“Do whatever I can to help this team win a championship. That’s the main goal. That’s our goal and we are going to come in with the mindset that we’re all thinking. This is the year.”
Davis’ game has not gone unnoticed. Current NBA free agent, Jamal Crawford told me he likes what he sees from AD so far this season. “I love it, love his game,” the three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award recipient told me in between taping an episode of the Players Tribune’s “Don’t At Me” with Rosalyn Gold-Onwude.
ICYMI: @JCrossover joins @ROSGO21 for the latest episode of #DontAtMe.
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“I love how he’s taking the challenge defensively. You can tell that his defense is rubbing off on everybody else. When your best players are upping the ante, you have to fall in line. He’s doing that for the team right now. That’s just on the defensive end along with everything else he’s doing.”
Million Dollar Question: Is there an actual chance for Anthony Davis to win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award This season?
“Absolutely,” Crawford tells me.
“Their team is number one. Their defensive ratings are off the charts. I think he’s the anchor for it. He’s taken pride in trying to lock whoever up and I respect it.”
That’s high praise from Crawford. Anthony Davis thinks the world of him.
Earlier this month, Davis told me that he could ‘definitely’ see the Lakers going after Crawford. “Instant scorer,” Davis told me.
Lakers’ Anthony Davis tells me about Lakers’ final roster spot & @JCrossover.
“If we’re looking for a scorer, he’s definitely on that list. He can score at will. He knows the game, very crafty with the ball, so if we’re looking for a scorer, then he’s definitely a guy I can see us going after.”
An 18-year veteran, Crawford was the eighth pick in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls out of the University of Michigan. He ranks seventh among NBA players in regular-season three-point field goals made. He is also an all-time leader in four-point plays in the NBA.