Less than two months after his 22nd birthday, New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis learned Monday that he had finished fifth in voting for the NBA’s 2014-15 Most Valuable Player, yet another notable accomplishment for the rising star. By placing fifth – behind winner Stephen Curry, James Harden, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook – Davis became the youngest player to earn top-five status since 2009-2010, when 21-year-old Kevin Durant was an MVP runner-up behind James.
Derrick Rose and Durant were 22 years of age in 2010-11 when they took first place and fifth place, respectively, in the MVP race, but both players have fall birthdays and therefore were roughly five months older than Davis is today.
Among the 130 ballots cast for this year’s MVP award, Davis was mentioned a total of 97 times, including nine third-place votes, 35 fourth-place votes and 53 fifth-place votes. Davis was among only six players who received at least one third-place vote (Clippers guard Chris Paul was the sixth member of that group).
In New Orleans franchise history, Davis is the first player to register a top-five MVP finish since Paul placed fifth in 2008-09. Paul was MVP runner-up in 2007-08, at age 22.