At this point, nobody is arguing that Anthony Davis is not the best power forward in basketball. Coming off his first NBA Championship, the 27-year-old big man is a 7x All-Star, 4x All-NBA Player, and a dominant force on both ends of the court.
But when you compare his numbers to another, much less celebrated big man, it kind of puts a different spin on things.
In New York, Julius Randle is having a career-year, putting up 22.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 6 assists per game — all of which are currently more than AD’s numbers in 2021. Interestingly enough, the Knicks are also playing surprisingly well, boasting a record of 10-13 in the East.
With the reality of those numbers, fans on Twitter debated its meaning and why it isn’t a topic being talked about more.
Julius Randle vs. Anthony Davis this season:
– Randle: 22.6 PPG – 10.9 RPG – 6.0 APG – 0.8 SPG – 0.2 BPG – 47 FG% – 39 3P% – 80 FT%
– Davis: 21.9 PPG – 8.8 RPG – 3.3 APG –
1.4 SPG – 1.9 BPG – 52 FG% – 31 3P% –
70 FT% pic.twitter.com/xtZgZnobqI
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 5, 2021
Remember when espn said AD is top 2 player pic.twitter.com/dwu4mvGhJA
— Ali (@Ali_Szn14) February 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/HasanGurel0/status/1357822956055986179https://twitter.com/VerbalPhenom/status/1357824186274652161
Randle> Ad but y’all ain’t ready for that convo🤷♂️
— Christian (@christian_M_G1) February 5, 2021
Yeah no. I’ll take ad’s defense over randles hair of more offense. Simply higher cause of usage rate.
— N8DohDoubleG (@RipCityManiac) February 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/EAisascam23/status/1357822899206430721
These numbers are considered bad for ad lmao think about that
— MarcusX (@BroMarcX) February 5, 2021
Y’all act like this means anything. If ad was on the knicks he’d average 30 12 and 7
— LakeShow1947 (@LakeShow1947824) February 5, 2021
And with these numbers, AD is considered to be struggling, and Ju is considers having a career season, shows how big the skill gap between these two are
— TONYS TAKE (@TheTonysTake) February 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/DaleFaz/status/1357824617419784201
Obviously, it’s a stretch to say Randle is a better player than AD. Not only is “The Brow” a Champion, he’s also worlds better on defense, as evidenced by his 1.9 blocks per game this season.
But Randle’s performance this campaign is certainly eye-opening, and it seems the fans are noticing as well. In the latest return of All-Star votes, he’s eight in the East frontcourt, with over 175,000 votes.
Here are the first NBA All-Star returns: pic.twitter.com/ocEWpr3HqV
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) February 4, 2021
It’ll be interesting to see if Randle can keep up his performance for the rest of this season. Is this just a fluke or a sign of things to come for him?
