Tracking Anthony Davis' greatness (ESPN Insider)

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At every point since he enrolled at Kentucky, Davis has been ahead of his peers at the same age. Remember, Davis and Kevin Durant are the lone two freshmen to win the Naismith and Wooden awards, a feat that appears unlikely to be repeated this season. Davis capped his season by leading the Wildcats to the title and joining Carmelo Anthony and Pervis Ellison as the three freshmen to win Most Outstanding Player in the past 70 years.

Although Davis' rookie season was hampered by a series of injures, he still managed to post the best PER ever by a player in his age-19 season (as determined by age on Feb. 1), per Basketball-Reference.com. Davis is repeating the feat this year among 20-year-olds. Even more impressive is the list if we open it up to all players 21 and younger, allowing the inclusion of players who spent more than two seasons in college.

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Davis already ranks third, trailing Shaquille O'Neal's second season and LeBron James' third, and is ahead of some of the NBA's brightest stars, including any of Durant's first three years, Magic Johnson's first two or Michael Jordan's rookie campaign. Of the seven previous players to surpass a 25 PER by their age-21 season, all of them won MVPs except Durant (who might this season) and John Drew (whose career was limited and eventually ended by cocaine addiction). That's the kind of elite company in which Davis should be considered.

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Best Single Seasons according to PER of players 21 and under, who have played more than 1000 minutes.

Basketball Reference