Anthony Davis ranked as Top 25 NBA player of the 21st century

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Photo of Anthony Davis by Gary A. Vasquez | USA TODAY Sports

Anthony Davis‘ post-college career has been the most successful by a Kentucky men’s basketball player throughout program history — and it’s not really close (although we see you, Dan Issel).

At Kentucky, Davis was an absolute star, leading the Wildcats to a 2012 national championship while winning National Player of the Year along the way. Just a month after winning a title, he was helping Team USA take home gold in the 2012 Olympics. But since making the leap to the pros as a No. 1 draft pick, there haven’t been many players in the entire league than The Brow.

In fact, ESPN would tell you there have only been 18 better players than Davis since the turn of the century. On Monday, the worldwide leader ranked the Top 25 NBA players of the 21st century and tabbed Davis at No. 19. Among his accomplishments include:

NBA 75th Anniversary team
One-time NBA champion (2020)
Nine-time All-Star
Five-time All-NBA
Five-time All-Defense
Three-time blocks leader
2017 All-Star MVP

Across his 12 NBA seasons, Davis has played for two franchises: the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans (7 seasons) and the Los Angeles Lakers (5 seasons). For his career (736 games played), the versatile 6-foot-11 big man has averaged 24.1 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 34.5 minutes per outing. He’s shot 52.3 percent overall from the field and 79.5 percent from the free throw line.

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“Once known for his unibrow more than for his unicorn skill set, Davis blossomed from a defensive lynchpin in his early days in New Orleans to one of the most polished two-way threats in the league after five seasons spent in L.A.,” ESPN’s Dave McMenamin wrote. “So far, nothing he’s done has topped his first season with the Lakers when he teamed with James to deliver the purple and gold their first title in 10 years under the most trying of circumstances as the franchise was reeling from (Kobe) Bryant’s death and the league was put on hiatus because of a global pandemic.

“His signature shot from L.A.’s bubble run — a buzzer-beating, game-winning 3 to go up 2-0 in the Western Conference finals — has cemented him in Laker lore. The fact that he yelled, ‘Kobe!’ right after making it while wearing the Lakers’ special ‘Black Mamba’ uniform in the game only made it more epic.”

The biggest box that Davis has yet to check is winning league MVP. He’s been among the Top 10 in voting four times (2015, 2017, 2018, 2020) but has never finished higher than third. He’s also never won a Defensive Player of the Year award, although he finished second in 2020. Now 31 years old, dreams of winning an MVP or DPOY might be too far-fetched at this point, but there’s no denying Davis is one of the greatest players we’ve ever seen play the game of basketball.