Anthony Davis is precocious.
He won an Olympic Gold Medal with Team USA as a teenager. He was named an All-Star at 20 years old. And as the fourth season of his young career rapidly approaches, he has a realistic claim to being the best basketball player on the planet.
Davis’ journey to superstardom with the New Orleans Pelicans has been faster than even the most optimistic fans anticipated, a reality owed to his unceasing desire to improve. It wasn’t long ago, remember, that he weighed just 222 pounds; today, he’s comfortably above 250. Pre-draft concerns centered on his inability to create shots; now he’s among the most efficient isolation scorers in the league.
There’s really no telling just how good he’ll ultimately be. But what’s become clear is that Davis’ approach to the game sets him apart from other young luminaries nearly as much as his physical gifts, an amalgam he hopes will lead to not just one championship, but several.
Here’s the Pelicans’ big man, courtesy of The Advocate‘s Brett Dawson:
“Winning kind of — I don’t want to say it defines greatness, but it’s, like, 80 percent of it,” Davis said. “At the end of the day, I want to win a ring — multiple rings — and I think that helps you if they do have a debate whether you’re great or not.”
It’s easy to say that Davis is getting ahead of himself. New Orleans made the postseason for the first time in his career just last season, after all, and was promptly swept in the first-round by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors. While Alvin Gentry seems poised to help the Pelicans reach heights the ousted Monty Williams never could, that may not prove the case this year. The Western Conference is stronger than ever at the top, and New Orleans’ nucleus is still young.
But what applies to normal stars doesn’t to Davis. Outrage gleaned from LeBron James’ parade proclamation of wanting to win “not one, not two, not three” titles was gleaned from pure arrogance and a bad taste left in the country’s mouth from “The Decision” – not because he didn’t have the chance to hoist that many Larry O’Brien trophies in his time with the Miami Heat.
There are several players a generation that make anything seem possible. James is certainly among them, and the Pelicans’ franchise cornerstone is well on his way to joining that group. And that he already understands the unfair expectations that will inevitably accompany his legacy is just the latest evidence that Davis will ultimately make good on them.
[Via The Advocate]
