Both of my brows are raised.

Anthony Davis, the 2015 All-Star power forward for the New Orleans Pelicans, has made the full transformation. And yes, he’s only 22 years old.

The numbers are rare for a would-be junior in college — Davis is averaging 24.5 points per game, 10.3 rebounds per game and three blocks per game. These totals, along with Davis being one of eight NBA players to ever average more than a 30.0 Player Efficiency Rating, has led to many analysts proclaiming Davis to be the next great basketball player. For those unaware of the PER stat, that is John Hollinger’s all-in-one detailed formula encompassing all of the player’s attributions to the team in one statistic. Davis is the youngest player in NBA history to average more than a 30.0 rating. Davis’ ever-improving field goal percentage (at 53 percent in his third season in the league) allowed him to climb past 30.0 this season, which harkens back to Davis tweaking his shot two offseasons ago. He improved his midrange shot by nearly 15 percent since the tweak. That, along with the fact that he can post defenders up and take defenders off the dribble, has made him one of the best basketball players in the world. Not so surprisingly, this has become a common opinion.

In watching him night after night, I have agreed with analysts in the past about his upside and overall ability, and though I’ve sung his praises for the past three years, I’ve also hesitantly crowned him as the next best player in the NBA… until now.

The last area I needed to see from Davis was toughness, which was tested twice this past week.

After work Tuesday night, I sat down to watch the Pelicans’ 103-100 victory against the Golden State Warriors. My face grimaced as I watched Davis challenge Andrew Bogut before either fumbling the ball out of bounds or losing his balance. Though I admire Davis’ ability, in the back of my mind, I was seeing flashbacks of him falling down after being tapped in his already-injured shoulder, forcing him to leave the game. Subconsciously, I judge every player on their toughness, and when someone pulls a Paul Pierce by being helped off the floor only to return later in the game to play, well, that rubs me the wrong way.

Davis hung in there, though, as he soared through the air and slammed home an alley oop dunk in the early goings of the second quarter. Ah, there’s my guy.

While Stephen Curry danced around and sunk jumper after jumper to give the Warriors a double-digit lead late in the second quarter, Davis was still making block after block in the low post. However, the Pelicans went into halftime with a 12-point deficit, and to add insult to injury, Davis only had six points. The second half was a different story, though, and that’s when I knew I was literally watching greatness, as if I was observing a “We are all witnesses” Nike ad.

Davis hit back-to-back jumpers to start the second half, and the camera panned over to Golden State head coach Steve Kerr on the sideline, who wore a look of concern. I couldn’t help but think about NBA 2K15, where Kerr is both an announcer and a coach on the video game. It’s quirky, but it makes playing Golden State on the console quite humorous. There’s something Kerr says on commentary in the game that has stuck with me. I’m paraphrasing, but Kerr expressed he felt Davis could be the next best player in the world after Lebron James exits his prime. As Davis took over the game against Golden State Tuesday, scoring 23 of his 29 points in the second half, he answered the bell with toughness.

Then Friday, after suffering a throat contusion in the first half against the Phoenix Suns, Davis returned and led the team with 19 points and nine rebounds in a victory that kept the Pelicans tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder in eighth place.

This was the last phase I needed to see. While I knew the 22-year-old was talented, I always questioned whether he was tough enough to anchor a postseason berth. Tied with the Thunder with three games left, I think I’ve already gotten my answer.

Fear the Brow, NBA. He has truly arrived.

 

JAKE MARTIN is the sports editor for The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3633 or jake.martin@natchezdemocrat.com.