New Orleans Pelicans: Anthony Davis Left Off All-NBA Teams
In case you missed it, the 2013-14 All-NBA Teams were recently announced, and like always, a handful of criticism comes along with them. As always, you’re going to find a handful of snubs, players that might not have deserved the spot they received, and so on and so forth. In case you haven’t seen the full teams yet, you can check them out here.
If you look at the teams, there are some pretty well-established players failing to make any of the tree teams. Carmelo Anthony, Tim Duncan, Russell Westbrook, and New Orleans’ own Anthony Davis. Davis, a 21-year-old second-year player out of Kentucky, made incredible strides in the 2013-14 season. The 6’10” big man impressed with 20.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and a league-leading 2.8 blocks per game.
Plain and simple, Anthony had an amazing season, and you can’t take that away from him. However it appears that the All-NBA voters didn’t consider his season good enough to place him among the three teams. He finished with 40 total points, including one First-Team vote. There’s no doubting that Davis’ season was worth a bid, so what held him back?
Well, for one thing, the Pelicans didn’t accomplish a whole lot in 2013-14. It appears that the All-NBA voters took winning into consideration this season, especially when you see Carmelo Anthony, the second-highest scorer in the league, fail to qualify for a team. So possibly, had the Pelicans say been a sixth seed in the playoffs, it might be more likely that Davis finds his way onto the roster.
Winning aside, Davis isn’t the only impressive big man in the NBA. Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin and Al Jefferson were just a few of the other power forward/centers to make one of the three teams. Each of the aforementioned players averaged more points than Davis, and all aside from Griffin averaged more rebounds. Essentially, it was an extremely competitive year for big men, and while Davis’ stats were impressive, they may have not been enough to push him over the hump.
Was Anthony’s season great for a 21-year-old? Yes. Did he play at an elite level? Yes. Was it enough to earn a spot among the top 15 players in the 2014-14 season? Apparently not. There shouldn’t be any outrage, however. If anything, Davis could use this as motivation to come back next fall and produce an even better season for New Orleans. Award season always brings it’s fair share of snubs with it, and as Anthony Davis learned, this year is no different.
Shawn McFarland covers the New Orleans Pelicans for HoopsHabit.com