Prior to this season, when NBA people were asked who they would choose out of any player in the league to start a franchise with, the most common answer was Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans. Davis just turned 23 years old and is already one of the best and most productive players in the league.
If you asked that same question again today though, you will likely get a different answer because Davis dealt with injury issues yet again. The star forward had his season ended due to a knee injury and finished this season having played less than 70 games for the fourth consecutive year.
Davis underwent surgery on his left knee towards the end of March, which will keep him out for three to four months. The knee wasn't the only issue for AD though, as he also has a torn labrum in his left shoulder, but that, fortunately, will not require surgery.
In his four years in the league, Davis has played 64, 67, 68 and 61 games respectively and, while that did improve every year before this one, the Pelicans would prefer to have the face of their franchise on the court more often than that. Even with the fact that he has never played more than 70 games in a season and the surgery this offseason, the Pelicans are still not concerned about his long-term health.
The Pelicans may be right in not concerning themselves with this yet, but after four years in the league it does seem to be a disturbing trend. "The Brow" is a beast when he is on the court, with career averages of 20.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, but the injuries may prevent him from ever becoming as good as his talent says he should be.
Davis' head coach Alvin Gentry is also confident that his injury history isn't too concerning. Gentry believes Davis wants to be great and said that he will only get better as he continues to mature and get older. Davis has already been ruled out for the Olympics and still faces a long road back to getting on the court, but at least his coach and organization are confident that the injuries won't have a lasting effect. Those injuries though, have piled up over the last few years so the Pelicans may be downplaying them just a little bit.
