The NBA's top defender, according to Lakers star Anthony Davis, "the league doesn't like me," hence he won't win DPOY.

 On Sunday, the NBA revealed the three finalists for each category. In the case of Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert, Victor Wembanyama, and Bam Adebayo were selected. Anthony Davis, the center for the Los Angeles Lakers, is arguably the most well-known player left out of that bunch.

Following that revelation, Davis told ESPN how shocked he was.

"I'll never get [Defensive Player of the Year]," stated Davis. "I'm not getting it from them. The league is not fond of me. I am the league's top defensive player. I'm able to swap out 1 through 5. From a wide angle, I am the best pick-and-roll defender in the league. I deflect shots. I get back up.

"I'm at a loss for what else to do. I'm done with it. I'll simply do everything in my power to support the team's victory and its pursuit of a championship. "I'm done with individual awards and accolades."

Aside from his intriguing remark that the league dislikes him (the media, not the league office, decides who wins these honors), Davis' feelings are entirely justified.

Despite being one of the top interior defenders in the world since his rookie year, he hasn't won a trophy despite being selected to four (soon to be five) All-Defense teams. What exacerbates the situation is that he has placed fourth (2015), third (2018), and second (2020) in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.

With an average of 2.3 blocks and 1.2 steals per game, Davis was outstanding for the Lakers once again. He was one of just two players to average at least two blocks and one steal, along with Wembanyama, and ended fourth in the league in blocks. Davis frequently kept the Lakers afloat on that end of the court, whether it was by playing help defense around the rim to clean up his teammates' mistakes or by playing one-on-one defense in the post.

"I can block shots, I can help from the weak side, I can switch onto anybody, I can guard the pick-and-roll, I can guard the guard and get back on the big and break up the lob, I can guard the post, I can guard the pin-down," Davis stated. "Whatever the matter may be. I can handle any defense situation that arises.

"So, I am capable of it. I can cover anything defensively."

The issue facing Davis this season is that he did not lead the league in blocks by a significant margin with a variety of amazing individual highlights (Wembanyama), nor did he serve as the cornerstone of the league's top defense (Gobert). The only genuine candidates for the prize were those two. Although it might have felt great to be among the finals, Davis won't be far behind Adebayo in terms of total vote points.