Despite the fact that the Anthon Davis hype train has slowed down a bit of late, it's still hard to deny that the Los Angeles Lakers superstar is playing some of the best basketball of his career right now. So much so, that there have been more than a few folks out there who think that AD should be in the MVP conversation.

As it turns out, Shaq isn't one of those people. The Lakers icon is a huge fan of Davis and what he's doing this season, but in his mind, O'Neal knows that AD's MVP claim has not yet been solidified — at least not yet:

“I wish I could say, AD for MVP, but people are going to be like, oh, he doesn't have a winning record and all that stuff,” Shaq admitted, via Yahoo Sports. “But know, power forward is playing the way AD is playing right now.”

As much as Lakers fans want to believe that Davis should be in contention for the MVP title, the harsh reality is that it's going to be very difficult for him to win this award unless he helps his team get to a winning record.

The good news for the Lakers is that they're slowly getting there. After Sunday's win against the Detroit Pistons, Anthony Davis and Co. are now 12th in the West with an 11-15 record. It's obviously still not an ideal spot for LA at this point in the season, but if Davis keeps on playing like this — and if he's able to stay healthy, of course — then the Lakers are almost certainly going to continue to climb the rankings.