Toronto Raptors: Top 5 Centers in franchise history

Raptors center No. 1: Antonio Davis

Another guy who gets lost in the shuffle due to the strength of his era, Antonio Davis first made his name in Indiana as the lesser of the two Davis “brothers”, playing second fiddle in the frontcourt to all-stars Dale Davis and Rik Smits.

Davis may have had success playing for the Pacers, but it was with the Raptors where he blossomed into an All-Star. Taking on the challenge of all the great bigs during the late 90s, AD averaged a solid 12.5 points, 9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks a game with the Raptors, peaking in 2001 where he put up a 14 and 10 with 2 blocks.

Davis had all the tools of an elite big man. He was a physical specimen with cannon-like arms and good footwork, he could shoot the midrange jumper forcing defenders to play him honest from range (or the 90s equivalent of range), and had the quickness at 6’9 to blow by more traditional plodding centers.

Playing on good teams with All-Star perimeter players to compliment him, making deep playoff runs, and being a factor on both ends of the court. Sounds great, right?  So why wasn’t he better?

Antonio Davis could’ve been so much better for the Raptors

It had a lot to do with playing in other people’s shadows. Antonio played four years of college ball at UTEP, and he was drafted by the Pacers as the 48th pick, meaning he was stuck as the third banana behind Dale and Smits all throughout the 90s.

It wasn’t until he left for Toronto that AD blossomed into an All-Star, but by that time he was already 31 and had his stunted prime cut short by injuries and father time. Toronto only got to see three years of an unleashed Davis. Luckily, they coincided with Vince Carter so he could make some playoff runs.

So why is he ranked #1?  Antonio Davis was the anchor of those Vince Carter teams.  Think about the strength of the 4-5 position from ’99-’04.  Shaq, Duncan, Garnett, Nowitzki, Mutombo, Ben Wallace, Jermaine O’Neal, Yao, Webber, Mourning, Ilgauskas, Divac, Stoudamire, Elton Brand.  The Raptors asked Davis to go to war with those guys, and the team ended up winning some playoff series.

Davis was a gamer.