The NBA has announced  the final list of candidates for the 2023/24 Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) title  and Lakers star Anthony Davis is not in the top 3. He is far behind by Rudy Gobert, Bam Adebayo and Victor Wembanyama.

“I will never get it (DPOY),”  Davis told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin . “They won’t give it to me. The league doesn’t like me. I’m the best defensive player in the league. I can cover all five positions. I’m the best pick and roll defenseman, defensive player Excellent basket, I blocked every shot I could.

I don’t know what else to do to get this title. But I will forget it. I will do everything to help the team win and win the championship. I don’t care about personal titles anymore.”

Davis is undeniably one of the best defensive players in the NBA when he is healthy. However, the LA Lakers star’s problem is that he cannot maintain good physical condition throughout the entire season. After 12 years of playing, Davis only made the defensive team of the year four times and never had a DPOY.

For a player who averaged 2.3 blocks, 1.3 steals per game, led the NBA in blocks for 3 seasons, and had the 2nd most blocks in the NBA  among current players , it’s unfair. Lakers players have never once touched DPOY.

Davis has grounds to believe that he deserves to win DPOY this season. He is in the top 5 players with the most blocks in the tournament (178) and has an average of 2.3 blocks per match. Davis’ 91 steals are also more than all 3 candidates for DPOY this year.

Currently, Gobert is the strongest candidate for this year’s DPOY title. The French striker benefited from the excellent and uniform defense of the Minnesota Timberwolves. While Adebayo’s versatility gives him an advantage over other big men and Wembanyama is the league leader in blocks.

However, it cannot be denied that Davis deserves to be placed next to the above three names if comparing statistics.

What makes Davis lag behind the likes of Gobert, Wembanyama or Adebayo is his defensive impact on the field. The Lakers give up 0.3 fewer  points per 100 possessions  with Davis on the court, a smaller margin than Gobert ( 0.7 ), Adebayo (  1.7  ) and Wembanyama ( 6.1 ).

Some people believe that statistics do not reflect the value that Davis brings in defense, but it is a measure for experts to vote for the Defensive Player of the Year title.

Davis will almost certainly be named to the All-Defensive Team this season. But at age 31, Davis’ chances of winning DPOY are getting narrower. Most likely, Davis will actually end his career without winning this title once.