Will Anthony Davis Ever Win DPOY? Are the Lakers More likely to Win a Title or Miss the Playoffs?

Last season, Anthony Davis told ESPN that, even though he deserves to win, he'll never actually take home a Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Wny?
He's not totally sure. Maybe the media and the NBA just don't like him. He's honestly not sure about why, only that he's not going to win. So is he right? Fair or not, there does seem to be a feeling that whatever he does, it's not going to be enough. Not just with the DPOY Award, but most things. How much does the bar move on Davis from day to day? Is he always being held to what amounts to an impossible standard?
As the Lakers try to fill out the backline around him, it's a relevant question again. Davis has noted throughout his tenure playing with the Lakers that he prefers to have another big next to him, at least some of the time. Is this the year the Lakers can again accommodate him? Is there a center combination that might make it possible to have Davis at the four, just a little more?
Well, one C on the roster in theory fits the bill...
Finally, looking at the mailbag to answer an interesting question: As currently constructed, are the Lakers more likely to win a title or miss the playoffs entirely?
HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky
SEGMENT 1: Anthony Davis wants a DPOY, no matter what he says.
SEGMENT 2: Do the goalposts ever stop moving with Davis?
SEGMENT 3: A fun mailbag question.
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[@yaboirich]

Brian, "eat them out from the middle" was a CRAZY statement. WILD.

[@dmac93065]

Idk what it would take to make the trade happen, but AD would be perfect for Dallas. The way the Lakers have ignored his request to have a true big to play alongside him is disrespectful. Idk why he hasn't asked for a trade.

[@briancoveney3080]

AD is the best defensive player for the last several years. Hands down.

[@craigg2266]

This is the state of the Lakers when we start care about a 2 way player SMH

[@hieroglyphy6181]

LeBron can play 20 minutes a game at SF alongside 2 bigs. I don’t think that’s a problem. The size upfront shrinks the floor and actually reduces LeBron’s defensive burden which allows him to focus on outside contests and funneling drives into the bigs. That is easier to hide defensively from a schematic standpoint (not harder). He can close halves at the 4 with AD at the 5, which is what they did in 2020.

[@LN-Lifer]

This may sound crazy but He will only get DPoY if he can finally commit to playing both sides for entire games We all see what a destructibe force on D he is on TV but it is even more impressive in person but the way we see him vanish in games on TV is even more obvious in person I promise you that vanishing shit is the problem He could actually take a small step back on D but be the complete player he SHOULD be on both ends and the full 48 and he would win DPoY

[@XavierSMG18]

but ak and bk are right, why is the same standard not upheld for someone like Gobert who is mid offensively?

[@lcceo22]

This video only needs to be about five seconds long: He fields a roughly .500 team each year while playing with Lebron James. That’s it. That’s the reason. The end.

[@je5406]

Bingo

[@XavierSMG18]

hey guys, do you ever think the league will stop with east and west and mix up the conferences? Tired of the disparity

[@je5406]

No. The owners have to vote on changes. Owners in the east would never want to make the path to the playoffs harder.

[@XavierSMG18]

@@je5406 I get that but what about after they implement a vegas and seattle team again? 2 more west teams?

[@lucasanfilippo5370]

Why?!.. maybe because him and Bron are not able to make the difference anymore like 2 top 5 players(that's what media say about Bron, at least), and that's the reason(one of the reasons, the other is cultural, we still believe or pretend that everybody's dream is to play in LA)why we are Always wondering about our roster, how deep it is, all our players should be at least Scottie Pippen on defense, otherwise we cant win.. and in the meantime, Denver wins with 6 players plus DJordan, and Luka and KI get to the finals with Gafford and Lively.. that's why.. nobody believes in AD.. and his bad luck is playing with an untouchable icon, which, even you too, never, ever, ever, debate... Did I say never?

[@LN-Lifer]

Yep LA ain't the destination city it used to be Truth is it's trash

[@AdamM-si2iw]

Lmao denver has 6 players but kcp, mpj, and Gordon are all better than our 3rd best player. Luka and Kyrie got to the finals with a bunch of 2 way role players pi Washington, and derrick Jones, lively and gafford. Luka didnt even play well in the OKC series. His role players literally carried him through those games. The Lakers surrounded ad and LeBron with dlo and rui who can't rebound/defend and didn't even score in the playoffs. Compare ad/lebron's numbers last playoffs to Luka/Kyrie and jokic/Murray. Guess who put up better numbers as a duo, it's ad/LeBron. Surround them with 2 way players instead of useless cones like dlo/rui, give ad an actual good backup big and we can compete.

[@lucasanfilippo5370]

​@@AdamM-si2iwThis is what you believe.. I still Remember KCP the year After the title how trash he was.. and MPJ.. bah..

[@AdamM-si2iw]

@@lucasanfilippo5370 mpj averaged 22/8 on 55/48. He outscored every non LeBron and ad laker and out rebounded every non AD laker. While still being a pretty good defender. Kcp was kinda eh offensively but he would be our 3rd/4th best player. Especially on the poa.

[@deandrepage1048]

Not until a Defense 1st Mentality 2-Guard with at least 5 years NBA experience replaces Austin Reaves on the 1st Unit.

[@gregpollard7158]

Jaxson/Koloko can be a Low Budget/Off Brand and Younger Version of Dwight & McGee!!! Hopefully, Jaxson/Koloko can give US a Combined 15Pts/12Rbds/3Blks a Game.

[@cosmicedi]

People need to stop with the LeBron defensive mistakes and LeBron doesn’t play defense. There is no way he has forgotten how defense works when he was a very good/elite defender for much of his 1st and 2nd primes. He has clearly decided to focus his energy on the offensive end for most of the game, now that he can’t sustain the rigors of 2way play in his 3 rd prime.

[@trevorwinn5012]

Shaq always said Rik Smitts gave him a ton of fits ! Doesn't mean Smitts was elite or any where near as good as Shaq its just matchups and his game and play style was able to give him fits

[@LockedOnLakers]

Yup. For all of Kwame Brown's limitations as a player, he was a very effective defensive post presence and used to make Tim Duncan work pretty hard for his buckets. And again, that's Tim freakin' Duncan. It's quite common for superstars to encounter a role player who, for whatever reason, was a thorn in their side. AK

[@trevorwinn5012]

@@LockedOnLakers Facts !

[@ryandpryor]

I miss Andy talking about The Police 😭

[@germyhalgerman3591]

This ain’t 2008. Don’t worry this team won’t be in 1st place. Living in the past as always

[@Davies2710]

AD, only played 60+ games twice in the last 6 seasons. Two of those seasons 36 and 40 games. And he has those names still where he's a liability. He isn't winning anything

[@_WEsTWooD]

AD missed his window and it’s nobody’s fault but his own, showing up for camp in 2021 vastly overweight and out of shape after a month long offseason

[@hieroglyphy6181]

He is too inconsistent and his team performances (record wise) are too up and down. That being said, I think he could have won DPoY in 2020. That was probably his best case to date.

[@MrExBearPoker]

I always tell people that. The bobcats ways gave the Lakers problems. There's always that 1 team.

[@Serching4JerryGarcia]

It was when Larry Brown was coaching them too. The same guy who coached the 04 Pistons

[@chf159]

Why should this guy win Defensive player of the year? He doesn't want to play center because he's soft! Yet when he plays center is when his defensive skills are at their max display. He's too soft though and too clumsy unaware of his surroundings which is why he gets hurt more playing center. He knows that and that is the real reason why he doesn't want to play center

[@ceetyler8249]

Lakers wouldn't even be the 5th seed in the East stop guys Pacers cleveland not even mentioning the top 4

[@realtingdis9099]

Win a title?!😂😂. R u high?😂😂

[@diamondhyena5631]

More likely to miss the playoffs and it’s not even close.