Anthony Davis just got the disrespect Mavericks desperately needed him to feel

What was supposed to be one of the most anticipated seasons in Dallas Mavericks history ended up turning into a PR disaster. After the Mavs got rid of Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers, which fans will never be OK with, Quentin Grimes got traded for Caleb Martin. Another main theme during the season was continuous injuries, and it turned out to be one of the weirdest seasons in history as Dallas missed the playoffs after making the NBA Finals in the season prior.

Davis came out and absolutely dominated during his Mavs debut against the Houston Rockets until he suffered a left adductor strain, forcing him out for a month. When Davis came back, he made Mavs fans hopeful of what the upcoming season could be. Since his Finals win with the Lakers in 2020, many media pundits, like Charles Barkley, have constantly criticized Davis for not having the killer mentality that he once did. Davis was just ranked as a 93 in NBA 2K26, which doesn't sound bad, but it's not up to what his standard is and should be.

Davis used to dominate the league with such a force that opponents would fear him every night. Since his injury history has added up, it seems like the media has forgotten the damage that Davis can do. This 93 rating, which makes him the 12th-best player in the NBA, needs to be a chip on his shoulder to show what he can do with Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving, once he gets back.

Anthony Davis' questionable ranking gives him the perfect fuel

The Mavericks clearly need Davis to be at peak level performance if Dallas wants to be a serious contender for the next few years. This is entirely possible with a deep roster of shooters, paint defenders, and playmakers on the court, but they simply need one thing to happen for all of this to come together.

Davis just needs to stay on the court.

The old saying goes: the best players you have are the ones that are playing. And it stands true.

Even though it's a video game, we've seen a plethora of athletes make jokes about NBA 2K rankings. We don't expect Davis to do that, but this should set a fire under Davis for next season to get back into his peak shape and destroy his competition.

Davis was also ranked outside the top 10 in blocks, which is unbelievable to think of considering that he has been one of the best shot blockers in the NBA for years.

Both of his teammates, Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II, are in the top 10 for blocks in the No. 8 and 9 spots, but other than having Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren in their respective spots, the much younger guys on the list who are ranked higher than Davis are unfathomable to say the least.

Davis is practically a walking double-double who can do everything. Once he's in peak form, he's hard to stop every night. He simply needs to stay on the court to do everything he can to put the Mavericks in a winning position. This season won't be up to Flagg or Irving; it will be up to Davis to stay out on the court and perform. He was supposed to be leading LeBron James' Lakers, but got plenty of criticism for falling short of doing that at times.

With Irving out for the first half of next season, Davis is undoubtedly the unquestioned leader of the team now, which is ironic considering he's only played nine games in a Maverick uniform. Davis being ranked outside of the top 10 players and shot blockers in the NBA for NBA 2K26 is only going to motivate him to play even harder, and Mavericks fans should be excited to see what he can do in the 2025-26 season.