GREAT AS HE IS NOW, DAVIS HAS PLENTY OF FUTURE AHEAD

By Kevin Ding - Senior Writer

Bradley Beal, Steven Adams, Andre Drummond, Josh Richardson and Dennis Schroder are 26, probably the best players in the NBA that age besides Anthony Davis. Those five players have a combined four All-Star selections. Davis has six all on his own.

The new year and new decade mark a time for counting past birthdays and looking ahead to more. The current calendar also coincides with understandable focus on LeBron James turning 35 and still going demonstrably strong.

What is just as amazing is that Davis is only 26.

A three-time, first-team All-NBA honoree and All-Star Game MVP, Davis can already fill out quite an application for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Yet the reasonable hope is that he actually has more future than past in his wonderful NBA career.

It has been some kind of wonderful during this first half-year of Davis with the Lakers. After he won it only five times previously, Davis has been Western Conference Player of the Week two out of 10 possible weeks this season; James Harden is the only other player so honored. For some perspective on how difficult a feat that is, James didn’t win the award at all in his first season with the Lakers (though he has won it 62 times overall, most in NBA history).

James was just named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Decade, beating out Tom Brady by a wide margin. But Davis was actually chosen to ESPN’s NBA All-Decade team alongside James (and Harden, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry) despite Davis not even reaching the NBA until 2013. Funny thing is, Davis was just named to the AP’s All-Decade college basketball team, too.

There’s a sense that guys like Pascal Siakam and Joel Embiid are just taking off when Davis is only one year older than they are. Former Lakers Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. are both older than Davis.

Davis’ youth means he should not automatically be lumped in with James as Lakers whose workloads must be carefully monitored, a sentiment arising again Wednesday night after both stars had to re-enter in the fourth quarter to ensure a rout of Phoenix remained a victory.

Of course the Lakers want to keep Davis strong and fresh with plans for a long playoff run. Just bear in mind that he’s youthful enough to dip into his tank, which is why regarding load management he reminded at his introductory Lakers press conference in July: “I am 26 years old and love the game of basketball. I’m ready to play.”

That same day, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka referred to Davis specifically as “the most dominant young basketball player in the world.” That’s when Pelinka, who has managed salary-cap space with the idea that Davis could anchor the franchise with another star down the road, said Davis is “going to be a pillar in this franchise for many years.”

It’s understandable to get caught up in how successful the Lakers are this season and how Davis has made himself a front-runner for his first NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He has earned those MVP chants both James and Davis heard at the free-throw line at Staples Center on Wednesday.

And Davis is only two years older than Kyle Kuzma, categorized as the youngster on this Lakers team.