Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis is one of the favorites to win the Defensive Player of the Year award next season according to ESPN. ESPN ranked Davis as the fourth-most likely player to win the DPOY award next season.
Ahead of Davis was last year’s rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama, four-time DPOY Rudy Gobert, and the Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo. Wembanyama earned the majority of ESPN’s preseason votes to win DPOY. He finished his first NBA season as the Rookie of the Year, and was even second in the DPOY voting as a rookie. Wembanyama led the NBA with 3.6 blocks per game as a rookie last season, and also averaged 10.6 rebounds per game.
Gobert has been one of the most dominant defensive players over his career, winning the four DPOY awards and seven NBA All-Defensive first teams. ESPN put him at the second-best odds to win the award.
Adebayo has emerged as one of the league’s top defenders over the last five years, and comes in at third on the list. He just made his first NBA All-Defensive first team last season after averaging a career-high 10.4 rebounds per game. Davis comes in after Adebayo with New York Knicks’ Mikal Bridges.
Despite regularly being considered one of the best defenders in the game, Davis has never won the award before. Davis has been named to the NBA All-Defensive first team three times, including in 2024, and has also been named to the NBA All-Defensive second team twice. Davis has additionally led the NBA in blocks three times.
Last season, Davis averaged 24.7 points, 3.5 assists, 2.3 blocks, and a career-high 12.6 rebounds per game. He finished fourth overall in the DPOY voting, behind Gobert, Wembanyama, and Adebayo after receiving four first-place votes, 10 second-place votes, and 33 third-place votes.
Davis also garnered votes to win the NBA MVP award next season, finishing eighth in ESPN’s preseason voting. Davis finished behind Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic, Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards, Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis AntetoKounmpo, Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, and Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum.
