The Los Angeles Lakers are harboring the way-too-early frontrunner for 2025 NBA MVP honors. Lakers superstar Anthony Davis is eliminating all doubts about him being the best player in the Association. Winning a title in 2020 established him as a future Hall-of-Famer. But now, the Kentucky product is leading the Lakers (4-2) to wins while dominating the league across the board in ways he hasn’t done before.
Lakers’ Anthony Davis is currently leading the race for the 2025 scoring title
Davis is the NBA’s leading scorer at 31.8 points per game. He is also snagging 12 rebounds a night. The Illinois native is joined by Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo as the only two players putting up 30-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in the Association at the moment. Further, he’s the only center in the NBA who ranks in the top 10 in steals per contest (1.8 SPG).
For years, Davis has been lauded for his supreme gifts on both ends of the floor. However, whether it was because he couldn’t advance deep into the playoffs when he was with the New Orleans Pelicans, or because he and superstar teammate LeBron James were healthily jockeying for alpha dog status on the Lakers, Davis was never recognized with the NBA’s top individual honor nor given enough consideration for it.
The Lakers’ current situation will position Davis to take home his first NBA MVP award
That appears to be ancient history now. James overtly stated recently that he’s L.A.’s No. 2 guy moving forward and his 22.2 PPG proves that he’s embracing his new role. Secondly, the Lakers have a talented roster that already looks like it can make a serious Finals run next spring, even despite sorely missing the presences of Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt off of their bench.
Once at full strength, L.A. could be destined for well over 50 wins when the regular season is said and done. That, coupled with Davis leading the league in scoring and imposing his will on defense will position him to win the Michael Jordan Trophy next spring.
No other player in the NBA can check all of the boxes like Davis does
Underneath the surface, the former No. 1 overall pick from 2012 should start garnering praise as the best basketball player in the world. An argument can be made that there isn’t another player that can score as effectively and dominantly as Davis, while protecting the rim and defending on the perimeter the way a Defensive Player of the Year would.
The only other two-way superstars that can even contend with Davis are Kawhi Leonard (Los Angeles Clippers), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers) and Antetokounmpo. The former pales in comparison in regards to rim protection while the latter is a step behind in the three-point shooting department. Embiid comes close, but is not quite as effective at moving his feet when defending smaller guards as he is at hunting them to chase down blocks when they get the step on him.
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Davis can put himself in rarified air by earning a slew of end-of-season awards
That being said, Davis has a legitimate chance to win the MVP, scoring title, and Defensive Player of the Year in 2024-25. Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan is the only player in NBA history to have achieved said feat when he did so in the 1987-88 season. Should Davis also spearhead the Lakers to a championship come June, he’d join Houston Rockets Hall-of-Famer Hakeem Olajuwon as the only other player to win a championship, League MVP, and DPOY in the same campaign.
Ultimately, it’ll be on Davis to dictate how he’s regarded moving forward. He’s uniformly considered a top-10 player and widely regarded in the top-five. However, from a talent perspective, he may stand alone, and can prove it once the curtains close on the campaign.
