Does Anthony Davis Deserve Top 75 Status?

November 14th, 2022

NBA 75th Anniversary Team

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the NBA, in the 2021-22 NBA season 25 new players were added to the NBA's original 50 greatest players list created in 1996.

The 25 players that were added were Ray Allen, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, Kevin Garnett, James Harden, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Paul, Gary Payton, Paul Pierce, Dennis Rodman, Dwyane Wade, Russell Westbrook and Dominique Wilkins.

While I can agree with most of the additions that have been made - NBA champions, regular season and Finals MVPs, DPOYs, record holders - I can't help but think that one player doesn't belong with the rest.

Anthony Davis

Since he was drafted in 2012, Anthony Davis has consistently been considered a player with great potential, and one of the best players in the league. But after 10 years in the league, what has Anthony Davis really accomplished? While Anthony Davis has made a few All-NBA teams in his career (4x All-NBA 1st Team and 2x All-Defensive 1st Team) and finished top 3 in MVP voting once, Anthony Davis's success, particularly concerning the playoffs, has been disappointing.

Excluding his one championship run with LeBron James in the 2019-20 "bubble" season, Davis has made the playoffs only 3 times, losing in the 1st round twice, and getting the "Gentleman's sweep" in the 2nd round the other time.

Sure, Anthony Davis is still quite young and has a lot of potential if he can stay healthy, but with such a mediocre playoff record and average accomplishments compared to other stars than have played in the NBA, what gives him the edge over other NBA legends?

Here are 3 players who, in my opinion, could and should have replaced Anthony Davis on the 75th anniversary team.

1. Dwight Howard

Any NBA fan who watched the basketball between 2004-2011 knows how dominant Dwight Howard was. This 6'10 beast of a center is a 3x Defensive Player of the Year, 5x All-NBA First Team, 4x All-Defensive 1st Team, carried the Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals in the 2008-09 season, finished 2nd in MVP voting in the 2010-11 season, and won an NBA championship with the 2019-20 Lakers.

While the latter half of Dwight Howard's career hasn't been near as impressive as the dominance we saw from him in Orlando (much of which is thanks to injury), Dwight Howard has made the playoffs more consistently and made it further than Anthony Davis ever has as the leading man on a team, with 12 total playoff appearances, making the NBA finals twice, conference finals twice, and semi-finals twice. When compared side by side with Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard's resume looks much better.

2. Vince Carter

Though he is perhaps best known for his dunking abilities, Vince Carter's career as a player is just as impressive. Being the only player in NBA history to play in 4 different decades (1999-2020), Vince Carter's career is impressive not just for its longevity and what he did for basketball in Canada, but at one point Vince Carter was legitimately the face of the NBA.

Vince Carter doesn't necessarily have the accolades that other players on the 75th anniversary team have, only making the All-NBA 2nd and 3rd Teams once each and winning Rookie of the Year in 1999, but due to the longevity of his career his name appears quite a lot in the NBA record books. For example, Vince Carter is currently 20th in all-time points scored (above players like Larry Bird and Charles Barkley who are on the anniversary team) and 6th in all-time 3-pointers made.

His playoff success also was not great - never winning an NBA championship - but he did make the playoffs 11 times, reaching the conference finals once, and reaching the semi-finals 4 times. But if you ask any NBA legend what they think about Vince Carter, there is no doubt they would say he is one of the best players of all-time.

3. Tracy McGrady

Kobe Bryant was once asked during an interview who the toughest guy he ever played against. His answer? Tracy McGrady.

Tracy might not be as much of a household name as other NBA greats, but those who played against him all agree that this man was one of the best.

Tracy's career was unfortunately riddled with injuries and bad teams, but despite the opposition McGrady was able to have a Hall of Fame-worthy career, being inducted in the class of 2017.

Tracy is a 2x scoring champion in 2002-03 and 2003-04, 2x All-NBA First Team, 3x All-NBA Second Team, 2x All-NBA Third Team, and Most Improved Player in 2001. Concerning the playoffs, McGrady never made it out of the first round (except when riding the Spurs' bench in 2012-13), but in the 2002-03 playoffs he did push the eventual NBA champion Detroit Pistons to all 7 games in the first round.

Plus who can forget his famous "13 points in 33 seconds" play from 2004?

While lists like these are always hotly debated, with each person having preferences and biases based on their favorite players, when the NBA eventually makes a 100th Anniversary Team, I hope and expect to see each of these players on there.