NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award
In his first career playoff series, Davis averaged 31.5 points and 11.0 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game. Although swept by the overall number one seeded Golden State Warriors, who went on to win the NBA championship, Davis joined Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Karl Malone as the only players in the past 20 seasons to average 30 points and 10 rebounds in the playoffs. Davis also became the first player in 40 years to average 30 points and 10 rebounds in a player's first playoff series, with the only other players to do so being Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Bob McAdoo. At the end of the season, Davis finished 4th in the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award voting, 5th in the NBA Most Valuable Player Award voting, sixth in the NBA Most Improved Player Award voting. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team for the first time in his career, becoming the first player to make the first team in his first three seasons since Derrick Rose did so in the 2010–11 NBA season. He was also an NBA All-Defensive Team second team selection.