Pass the time quickly huh. Ten years ago, on June 28, 2012, the New Orleans Hornets drafted Anthony Davis as first pick. A modern interior, with generational talent, capable of finally focusing attention on New Orleans. Ten years later, what has he accomplished? Where is the son of Chicago in his quest for glory / Hall of Fame? A look.
We left him on April 2, 2012, left at the top of his young game, on the roof of the NCAA with Kentucky. As the 2012 Draft approaches, scouts, analysts and bookmakers swear by his name: Anthony Davis, 19-year-old interior, author of 29 blocks in his six March Madness games. “With Davis, you have a future All-Star in front of you,” says Bleacher Report’s scouting report. Ten years later, we take stock.
And first pick is not inevitably the Rookie of the year. A franchise considered him to be the highest potential of its vintage, that’s all. For Anthony Davis, although the acclimatization was fairly slow – 13.5 points at 52% shooting, 8.2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1.8 blocks and 1.2 steals in his rookie year – a certain Damian Lillard was hanging around. The trophy went to Portland’s 6th pick, but the Unibrow didn’t disappoint. On his sophomore exercise, Davis then raises the tone with plumber-locksmith statistics: 20.8 points at 52% shooting, 10 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 2.8 blocks and 1.3 interceptions. This is the start of bullshit. The numbers are spiraling and the shadow of a very, very great player hovers over the NBA. This big confirmation even earned him a first selection at the All-Star Game. But if the expression says “a falling tree makes more noise than a growing forest”, here it is quite the opposite. The growing tree makes more noise than the falling forest. We forget that New Orleans has not returned to the Playoffs for four years, and under cover that a youngster explodes, should we bend the knee? It seems so. On his third year in Louisiana, Anthony Davis closes the beak of the last reluctant by offering the Pelicans (renaming of the Hornets in the summer of 2013) this campaign of postseason so coveted. The Unibrow comes 5th in the race for the MVP trophy, and 4th in that for the DPOY. Founded in 2002, the New Orleans franchise faces the future with an excitement it’s never known.
The Pelicans fail on the first step of these Playoffs 2014-15, swept by the Golden State Warriors, a small team of the future, next to nothing. But in New Orleans, the indifference is total. The objective was to find the late holidays, it’s done so heading for the future. And guess what? In the wake of an Anthony Davis XXL, the Pelicans are going to… get back on their feet. The 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns end in April, and despite the starred selections for the grand dadet, the model does not work. Suddenly, DeMarcus Cousins leaves Sacramento and comes to help out Alvin Gentry’s troupe. One of the most promising duos of the decade is forming: a major media campaign around the « Ice & Fire », long live life, Boogie and AD prepare to wash away the opposing paint. The effect is immediate. Bingo, the Pelicans find the Playoffs and – against all odds – beat the Blazers of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum (4-0). But DeMarcus Cousins did not participate in the feast. In January 2018, several months before the postseason, he ruptured his Achilles tendon against the Rockets. This is the beginning of his end. Once again, the Pelicans are out of the Playoffs by Golden State (4-1). Once again, the number has increased. But once again, confirmation does not come. Faced with the impotence of role players surrounding him and Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins joined the Warriors in the summer of 2018. It’s already over with the « Ice & Fire »and still too lonely, AD takes over the management of the Lakers in the 2019 offseason. Sad end, franchise and players will rebuild on their side.
How to sum up Anthony Davis’ Lakers years other than by « saison 2019-20 » ? On the weirdest pandemic-disrupted campaign ever (cut, Orlando bubble, coughed coughed), LeBron James and AD – under Frank Vogel – win a title, the first of the Unibrow’s career. It’s party time. We say to ourselves that Anthony Davis has nothing more to do until the end of his career, and that the principal is assured. The concern is that he says he is the same: his 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons are so so, interspersed with injuries as “anecdotal” as they are frustrating. If the guy slaps his toe in the corner of the sofa, it’s surgery and three months of unavailability. From an elimination in the first round of the Playoffs against Phoenix, to this last season without the Playoffs, Anthony Davis’ career has stalled. He has his ring, huh, but it’s hard to be satisfied with it given what he’s already shown. You’re a bust AD (not at all).
Palmarès d’Anthony Davis
- Champion NBA 2020 (Lakers)
- Octuple All-Star (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2021)
- MVP du All-Star Game 2017
- Four-time All-NBA First Team (2015, 2017, 2018 & 2020)
- Two-time All-NBA Defensive Team (2018 & 2020)
- Three times best blocker of the season (2014, 2015 & 2018)
- 2012 Olympic Games Gold Medal (Team USA)
- 2014 World Gold Medal (Team USA)
- In the NBA Top 75 All-Time
Where is his DPOY trophy? His second title? Why isn’t he an All-Star anymore?
We love our big bully, but be careful that – at the height of her 29 years – she does not take the slope. How can we conclude other than with a bit of Reggiani? ” How much time, how much time again ? Years, days, hours, how many? When I think about it, my heart beats so hard. My country is life. How much longer ? ».