“The league has forgotten how damn good he is” - Zach Lowe says 8x All-Star will have a vengeance year next season, says he’ll be a All-NBA player
LA Lakers superstar Anthony Davis has been tipped to have a big campaign in the 2022-23 NBA season by analyst Zach Lowe. The superstar had a horrendous time on the court for the Lakers during the 2021-22 season due to injuries and form.
On ESPN's morning show Get Up, NBA analyst Zach Lowe spoke about how people have forgotten about the quality of Anthony Davis.
"Look, I think AD is going to have a vengeance year. I totally agree the league has forgotten how damn good is on both ends of the floor. He's coming back with a vengeance to reclaim his place as a top-10 player in the NBA," Lowe said.
Earlier this week, former NBA player Kendrick Perkins spoke about how Davis is the early favorite for the MVP award next season.
Zach Lowe responded to this claim from Perkins and said that being a top-10 player in the league is completely different from being an MVP. That holds true especially when you have LeBron James on the floor with you.
"But top-10 is different than MVP, winning MVP when you have LeBron James on your team by itself is really hard to do then you throw in Luka and Giannis and Steph and Ja and KD and Jokic and Embiid, I think it's more likely that Anthony Davis doesn't crack the top-5 in MVP voting than he wins it," Zach Lowe concluded."
Is Zach Lowe right about Davis being a top-10 player?
Upon last season's performances, Anthony Davis is nowhere near being a top-10 player in the NBA. The Lakers superstar played only 40 games, which means he missed more than half the regular season due to various injuries. AD averaged 23.3 points and 9.9 rebounds on better than 53% shooting from the field.
Anthony Davis is the first Lakers player with 3 straight 25-point, 15-rebound games since Shaquille O'Neal in 2001. https://t.co/ZxMVibJ5Kb
While these are numbers you can’t snooze at, what was lacking was aggression from the 2020 NBA champion and his threat from the perimeter. Davis averaged less than 18 shots a night and shot less than 19% from the field. In addition, he missed more than half the games.
Anthony Davis' talent is unquestionable. He is arguably the best defensive player in the league when healthy as he can seamlessly guard four different positions while being a rim protector. His ability to sink free throws is also a massive plus considering his tendency to go to the line often in a game.
Anthony Davis took zero shots in the 4th quarter tonight. https://t.co/EybZFnvlvO
However, health continues to be the biggest question mark on a player who is 29 years old and is smack dab in the middle of his prime. Zach Lowe's prediction could very well come to fruition if Anthony Davis can play 60 games or more.