In what could be an early effort to recruit the All-NBA big man to the Windy City, Chicago Bulls head coach Jim Boylen likened Los Angeles Lakers power forward Anthony Davis to Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon on Tuesday evening ahead of the two teams' matchup.
Per The Athletic's Bill Oram, the second-year Bulls coach was asked to historically compare the Lakers' current leading scorer, Davis, to past players. “The length, the instincts defensively…maybe [Hakeem] Olajuwon,” Boylen, 54, told reporters on Tuesday.
Jim Boylen is asked what player historically Anthony Davis is most like. “The length, the instincts defensively… maybe Olajuwon.” Like Garnett, Boylen said, AD can cover one side of the floor by himself.
— Bill Oram (@billoram) November 5, 2019
Olajuwon, of course, is a 12-time All-Star who spent 17 seasons with the Houston Rockets, leading them to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994-95 (capitalizing on Michael Jordan's absence) and was a one-time MVP and two-time Defensive Player of the Year.
Davis, 26, was traded from the New Orleans Pelicans to the Lakers in the offseason for three players and multiple first-round draft picks, landing Los Angeles a premier big man in the league, who is on track to win an MVP award of his own one day and has high hopes while sharing the court with LeBron James.
Through seven seasons in his professional tenure, Davis is a six-time All-Star. Currently, “The Brow” leads the Lakers with 28.5 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.
Davis is a huge liability for the Bulls on Tuesday, with his mere presence on the hardwood creating challenges for a young Chicago team searching for their third win in eight games. Davis, a Chicagoland native, has been rumored to be interested in the Bulls as a free agent following the conclusion of the 2019-20 season.
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