NEW ORLEANS – On his way to being the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft, Anthony Davis Jr. stopped to hug his mom and dad.
He found them 10 rows from the court where he’d just led the Kentucky Wildcats to their eighth national championship. To reach them, he had to step over a gate and hurdle a few rows of chairs, all while pushing through a throng of UK fanatics, each wanting to offer their own congratulatory high-five.
When he finally got there, his dad, Anthony Davis Sr., grabbed him in a bear hug and, unsuccessfully fighting back tears, said, “Congratulations. You deserve everything you got.”
Next up is the NBA, and in his final audition Davis turned in the kind of performance that was, well, bewildering.
He scored just six points and made only 1-of-10 shots in the Wildcats’ 67-59 victory, yet he still likely improved his draft stock. That’s because Davis did everything else. He grabbed rebounds (16), blocked shots (six), dished the ball (five assists) and played killer defense (three steals). In a sport where most scorers live and die by the shots they make and miss, Davis was the most impactful player on the court despite not scoring a single point in the first half.
“I knew I was struggling,” Davis said. “So I told them, ‘I’m going to defend and rebound, you all make all the points.’ That’s what they did tonight.”
After missing his first three shots to start the second half, he didn’t force many – if any – more shots. He let Doron Lamb (22 points) and Marquis Teague (14 points) carry the offensive load while he resolved to do the dirty work.
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