How many big men have ever been better than Anthony Davis when he’s at his best? In this enhanced segment from the Thinking Basketball podcast, Ben and Cody break down the Anthony Davis’s incredible playoff performances in 2020, 2023 and the NBA Cup, and weigh those against his inconsistent play at other times in the regular season and even the postseason.
–Full episode–
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fLgQKSBam8
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3n4BmrJjYITBfaz8oE5WY3
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/239-anthony-daviss-weird-peak-the-end-of-small-ball/id1428290303?i=1000638246187
Support at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thinkingbasketball
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Basketball-Ben-Taylor/dp/1532968175
Podcast: https://player.fm/series/thinking-basketball or at https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ben-taylor/thinking-basketball-podcast
Website: https://www.backpicks.com
Twitter: @elgee35
Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.
Stats courtesy:
http://www.pbpstats.com @bballport
https://www.basketball-reference.com
https://stats.nba.com
—–
Footage in this video is owned by the NBA and its partners. It is intended for critique and education.
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26 Comments
Sabonis is 8-0 vs ad
AD is lowkey such a playoff riser but its hilarious because his playoff performances are what we expected of him to consistently do 7 years ago lol. He's definitely a big game player but you're also not surprised when it doesn't work for him it's weird
Hot take : AD is the Greatest Defender the Lakers hav ever had .
In '19 and '20, AD was one the pace of being the best player. Some even dubbed him as the better Giannis. He was bugged down by injuries after that. His offense was not as good when he returned but is still a defensive beast. AD is way up there when healthy. If he stays healthy this year, and the next season, he'd have one of the most dominant season ever.
Well this is weird. Been listening to you, reading your stuff, watching your vids but this is the first time i’ve seen your face.
More of a cherry-peak.
If you decide to consider only when he has good shooting streaks like in 2020 when he looked like Durant sure. But that's not how it works, if you can't count on that you're only victim of statistical variance
AD is the most complicated player ever to measure. He goes from okay defense to top all time defense every couple weeks. He goes from bad offense to a top offensive player in the league several times a year. He's the most inconsistent player ever IMO.
Before the injuries, I don't know if he was as good as he is at his best on defense since joining the Lakers. But his offense before the injuries was far more consistent probably because he had the agility to get easier baskets and now he has to work harder for it and or shoot jump shots more.
Every time he actually gets the ball to shoot 20+ times, the Lakers are a completely different team.
He might be the most talented player ever, at age 21 he was posting a 30+ PER, he's in the same convo as Kareem, Wilt, and Shaq in that regard. Very young players who dominated the league at an extremely young age.
The media narratives surrounding him make him severely underrated, he is the best defender in basketball while being the best rebounder at the same time. He's also capable of being the most dominant scorer on the floor most nights, but he's in a weird position where Bron is still shooting more times per game than him, even though he's almost 39 years old. He is content dropping 23ppg a night, but he could easily be scoring close to 30 which we saw flashes of last season, when he dropped that 55pt 17reb game versus the Wizards.
He should be criticized for his inconsistency, but viewers don't realize he is carrying the defense every night. He can't have great offensive games if Rui is missing assignments, Lebron not boxing out, Reaves getting blown by, and Wood literally being a street cone. Not to mention DLO only plays with serious effort once a week. Now that Vando is back AD is starting to show his offense more.
Emphasis on sometimes
Love this channel it’s been one my favorites since I started watching
Pretty disappointed by this episode. Not once did they bring up that AD has been by far the most efficient high volume post scorer in the league this year, and only trails Embiid and Jokic in volume.
They also straight up lied about the on/off data. The Lakers were substantially better with AD and no LeBron than the opposite in both of their deep playoff runs together. Pretty important distinction based on the point they were trying to make. Completely ignored AD and the Lakers going on a crazy run to make the playoffs last year, mostly without Bron…
AD is a War Machine. And prime Wemby will be a Weapon of mass destruction.
i feel like he had the potential to be top 5 in the history off the NBA but injuries killed his momentum
I dont think AD has low motor i think its by product of not having a rhythm when he gets less touches. When theres a PG that constantly feeding him the ball he will cook. See how DLo impacts his game. Even tho Laker fans probably hate DLO but thats just his nature. What helds him back is his injuries it disrupts any players rhythm. He is a rhythm player
Part-time All-NBA player.
He's not the guy. He is capable but he doesn't want to.
Do people realize the physical exertion necessary to dominate on both ends of the floor lie AD is expected to? Is it realistic to expect someone to exert that level of physical effort for a full regular season and playoff season? AD is probably often exhausted. He’s not resting on the defensive end like Steph Curry. Curry resting on defense allows him to be fresh on offense and continue producing elite level offense at late stages of games and seasons. AD, on the other hand, is the Lakers’ centerpiece on defense and is expected to also provide 30 points and 20 boards. It doesn’t seem realistic to me to expect that from AD.
AD is so good on defence he stops himself
A generational defender for sure
If this year proves to be a success, without any major injuries, I do believe he was a failed “test” to say.
Keeping him as his natural weight while playing the 5 has been a blessing. He was too fragile to bulk up in his previous seasons which somewhat explained his injury-prone self.
knock on wood
This might be the year he takes back that Top 5 status from the league. We all know what he’s fully capable of.
And now with the 3 balls falling.“You’s in troubles”.
So happy you made this video. I made this comment on another video the other day: “AD is a conundrum. He can be unstoppable but also seems to sleepwalk through many games.” And I got so many snarky replies.
Anthony Davis game is on another Level this guy has really impressed his ability to play the game BIG Man is unstoppable, Sault!!!
I dont know much about basketball, but i always figured part of his struggles may be due to the fact AD is often asked to play a position he has vocally said multiple times he does not enjoy playing. Perhaps if LAnhad a true center and AD was able to play his actual position, we would see more consistency out of him. Right now he's showing up to work and he's being asked to do someone else's job, and frankly no one enjoys that. And basketball is at its best when the players are having fun
If AD didnt spend nearly a decade on the Pels in obscurity and instead started his career in a popular team, nobody would have qualms about his greatness
AD did most of the damage to his body in New Orleans and those old injuries will be looming for the rest of his career. Even though he's on a hot streak, I'm scared for him on every play.
It's really sad that the reward for being the best player in the draft is a half-decade long beat down in a small market city. A healthy AD would be the undisputed GOAT.
Would love to see Kevin McHale and his torture chamber covered on the offensive peaks series. He is a seriously underrated post scorer all time