National Basketball Association

Is rising superstar Anthony Davis the NBA's next MVP?

Published Dec. 12, 2014 5:13 p.m. ET

Jeff Caplan

DALLAS -- He has two gold medals with Team USA, national endorsement deals and funny television commercials, and as of last week a Sports Illustrated cover for the first time as a pro.

He's being discussed as potentially becoming the youngest MVP in league history, and he has arguably the most ambitious unibrow the game's seen since Ramon Rivas (Google him).

So what doesn't 21-year-old New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis have?

Enough shot attempts, says his coach.

On Nov. 25, the Pelicans lost at home by 10 points to the Sacramento Kings, the kind of long-suffering lottery team that New Orleans must beat on its home floor if it has any hope of meeting expectations and contending for a playoff spot in the ruthless Western Conference.

Davis played 38 minutes and took just 12 of his team's 79 shots. Afterward, coach Monty Williams was disheartened by his team's inability to get Davis the ball.

The next day Williams gathered the team and told them the offense must run from the inside-out, through their 6-foot-10 power forward each time they set up in the halfcourt. Davis' rapidly expanding firepower demands he be put in position to score, or at least be able to move it to an open man when defensives come at him, every time down.

"I feel like he should touch the ball at least 30 times a game," Williams said. "When he touches the ball, good things usually happen, and our guys know that. Nobody's icing him out. That would never happen, not while I'm here. But there has to be a focus on making sure he has the ball in his hands because it helps our team."

Davis, the 2012 No. 1 pick following one season at Kentucky, is off to a phenomenal start to his third season. His blistering first month has cooled some as defenses devote more energy to taking his shots away. Even so, Davis is putting up eye-rolling that only a handful of the all-time greats have ever posted through an entire season.

Entering Friday's games, Davis ranks third in the league in scoring (25.1 points a game), 10th in rebounding (10.6), first in blocks (2.9) and sixth in steals (2.0). His 56.9 field-goal percentage ranks sixth overall and is second among players that average at least 30 minutes a game. Davis ranks ninth in that category, logging a team-high 36.3 minutes.

According to NBA.com's Player Impact Estimate stat, a calculation of a player's total impact on the game, Davis ranks higher than only Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins among players that have played at least 15 games.

Only four players in league history, according to basketball reference.com -- David Robinson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon and Bob McAdoo -- have ever averaged at least 25.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.0 steals in a single season. Bump the steals to 2.0 a game as the long-limbed Davis is currently averaging, and that list of four drops to zero.

"As far as how someone is playing this year, as far as just their overall play, if I had to pick an MVP, I'm going with Anthony Davis," said Pelicans guard Austin Rivers, drafted No. 10 the same class as Davis. "He does it every night, and he does it on both ends, that's why he's the most valuable player, he does everything. And he does it in a way where it's not high-volume shots. He does it in a way where he's not demanding and he's so unselfish."

And he doesn't turn 22 until March. Davis' remarkable combination of size, length, quickness and athleticism, in high school he was a 6-3 point guard, has made him such a tough cover that he's third in scoring despite ranking 10th in field-goal attempts at 17.1 shots a game.

By comparison, the Portland Trail Blazers, one of the top five teams in the league in hoisting 3-pointers, still get LaMarcus Aldridge 19 shots a game.

"The way he [Davis] gets his baskets is pretty incredible, a lot in transition," Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson said.

"People don't understand," Rivers said, "he gets half his points or more on plays that aren't iso's [isolation plays]. They're lobs, tip-ins, rebounds, running the floor, pick-and-roll, [pick-and-] pop."

According to NBA.com's player tracking stats, Davis ranks way down the list among forwards of touches in the frontcourt per game. Joakim Noah, Boris Diaw, Jeff Green, Kawhi Leonard and Paul Millsap all average more.

Davis ranks 19th in close touches per game, meaning touches that originate within 12 feet of the basket (excluding drives), four-and-a-half fewer a game than Charlotte's Al Jefferson gets.

Yet no player (with at least 15 games player) is averaging more points per halfcourt touch than Davis (.736).

"We're just playing basketball," Davis said. "We have more guys that can score than me. It's not just trying to go through one player."

That's just Davis being Davis, a young player on a young, inexperienced team who hasn't learned to be demanding of the ball like Kevin Durant will at times as an established superstar and team leader.

"He's never a guy that's selfish and is going to yell and demand the ball," Anderson said of Davis. "He's going to figure out a way to best play with this group and obviously lead us. He's a team guy and he's having a great year. Obviously if he wanted to scream at us for a shot I think we would all give him the ball, but he's not that kind of guy."

Still, Williams has made it clear that he wants the ball moving through Davis more, and he included himself as being responsible for making that happen throughout the course of the game. There are also more shots to be had with shooting guard Eric Gordon out indefinitely with a shoulder injury.

However, since Williams made his 20-shot-a-game edict, Davis has reached that number just once in the last eight games entering Friday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. In those eight games, the highly efficient Davis has averaged 23.4 points on 16.3 shots.

In the one game he did put up 20 shots, Wednesday night at Dallas, he scored 31 points on 11-of-20 shooting. But with only two teammates scoring in double figures, Jrue Holiday with 30 and Ryan Anderson with 13, the Pelicans lost, 112-107, their sixth loss in the last nine games to fall below .500 at 10-11.

The frustration was evident that night as Davis sat at his locker stall answering questions about late defensive lapses that led to the loss, while also being asked to expound on his brilliant individual performances.

"None of that really bothers me, I'm all about winning," Davis said. "I can get whatever award or whatever accolade, and if the team doesn't win it kind of hurts. I just want to win and nothing else."

If the Pelicans can't pick up the pace, and their next three weeks is a run through a daunting West-heavy schedule, the MVP talk will simmer. League MVPs might not always win championship, but they do always make the playoffs.

"Just keep fighting," Davis said. "All the teams that are in our division are rolling. Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, Memphis, they're rolling right now. All of them are veteran teams and got great players. We're in a tough division and a tough conference. We're going to keep fighting and try to bring it every night."

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