After a brilliant series of games, the NBA named Anthony Davis as the Western Conference’s Player of the Month for February. It was the first time this season that Davis was in the conversation as a candidate to win the 2017-18 MVP Award. NBA.com’s Kia MVP Ladder reflected Davis’ strong showing in their weekly charts, placing him fifth in the Week 20 edition of their rankings.
At this point, the MVP award is Harden’s to lose especially with the Rockets on a 13-game win streak. Is Davis’ performance too little too late for him to make a run for it? How does he ensure that he has a chance to nab the prestigious individual award?
Here are five ways Anthony Davis can make enough noise to earn some votes for the MVP:
1. Big Numbers
The New Orleans Pelicans lost big man Demarcus Cousins to an injury in January and now he’s out for the rest of the season leaving Davis to pick up the slack. It wasn’t anything new to Davis since he had been carrying the team on his back from the very beginning of his NBA career.
However, Cousins was averaging MVP-worthy numbers. How could Davis replace his fellow big man’s 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.65 steals, and 1.58 blocks on his own?
In many people’s minds, the Pelicans’ season was about to go down the drain once again. True to experts’ predictions, New Orleans promptly lost five of their first six games without Cousins.
But something happened on the way to the Pelicans’ demise—Davis refused to let them lose.
Over the next few weeks, Davis put the entire team on his back and showed everyone that he and his team were a force to be reckoned with. Now, the Pelicans are rolling and in the midst of a 7-game winning streak, the second-longest winning streak in the league currently.
During that stretch, The Brow submitted insane averages of 39.3 points, 15.0 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, and 2.8 steals including historical milestones that have never been achieved in decades. Among them was a 53-point, 18-rebound, and five-block outing versus the Phoenix Suns.
Davis needs to keep putting up these historic numbers to make up for lost time and secure his candidacy for the MVP award. If the last few weeks are any indication, he’s more than up to the task and the voters for the award are going to take notice.
2. Winning
It’s not enough that Davis plays excellently, the Pelicans need to keep winning a majority of their remaining games. And we’re not just talking about winning six out of every 10 games, the Pelicans have to win eight of them. With only 23 games left on their calendar, that means roughly 19 wins and only four losses.
It would help the All-Star forward’s cause immensely if he is able to keep the Pelicans’ win streak longer. Nothing gets the attention of the voters than double-digit win streaks by an MVP candidate’s team.
Then again, not all games are weighed the same. A winning streak is great but winning the big games matter most.
In their remaining games, the Pelicans have to make sure that they end up victorious against the best teams in the league.
Here’s a master list of the most important games on their calendar:
- San Antonio Spurs on March 15
- Houston Rockets on March 17
- Boston Celtics on March 18
- Houston Rockets on March 24
- Cleveland Cavaliers on March 30
- Oklahoma City on April 1
- Golden State Warriors on April 7
- San Antonio Spurs on April 11
3. Head-to-Head Match-Ups
James Harden is Davis’ primary competitor for league MVP honors and the All-Star forward has two chances to show him up during the key games listed. Not only do the Pelicans need to win, they need to win convincingly. Though they don’t guard one another, Davis has to impose his will over Harden by keeping him from scoring inside and being the aggressor when both of them are on the floor. A wide gap in terms of their personal performances in the same game means a lot when voters cast their ballots for a candidate.
Not to be overlooked, the match-ups against San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge, Boston’s Kyrie Irving, the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, and Cleveland’s LeBron James are going to be key to Davis’ campaign to win the award, too. Showing himself to be the dominant player versus all of the aforementioned players in their match-ups will be crucial to what determining whether he deserves to be league’s best this season.
4. Player of the Month
As mentioned earlier, Davis won Player of the Month honors for February and that was a huge step in becoming the MVP. It’s equally important that he wins both the March and April awards. If he loses even just one, voters will take note that he was the best player in his conference only two out of the six times the award was handed out.
If he does, Davis will have shown voters that he is playing better than Harden for three straight months. Davis’ stiffest competition for MVP will be coming from the Rockets’ guard and he needs to show him up.
It’s also noteworthy that he has no control over the Eastern Conference winner. If the Cavaliers win most of the games in their schedule and James wins the remaining Players of the Month honors, it doesn’t matter that he’s in the East. Davis will have to contend with the Cavs’ four-time MVP as well.
That’s why it’s even more imperative that he wins the monthly award two more times.
5. Marketing
This one is beyond Davis’ control and within the Pelicans’ marketing department’s area. The 6-foot-10 All-Star doesn’t lack the numbers nor the big moments within the games that stick in people’s minds. They just need to be promoted regularly and often so that voters think of him and his accomplishments whenever they consider the MVP award.
Every big block or steal needs to be highlighted. The dunks need to be shown in their full ferocity. The crucial shots that he makes have to be in highlight reels. These need to be on every social media channel whether as videos, gifs or still photos within the context of why they are important numbers, milestones, or achievements.
The Pelicans’ wins have to be emphasized as well. Showing how Davis performed against the best players in those wins helps especially when it comes to the top contenders.
Imagine if you get a daily dose of Davis delights, don’t you think you’ll see him as the best player in the game this season?
Most definitely!
Conclusion
Davis is an MVP-candidate year in and year out. The problem is that his best games have usually come at the beginning of the year. This time, he is making a late push to win the award and it could not have come at a better time. Cousins’ injury may be a blessing in disguise for Davis on an individual level as it lay the foundation for his otherworldly performance of late.
If things come together in these next few months, Davis may yet steal the MVP Award from Harden and the rest of the contenders by the end of the season.
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