Entering this season, top overall pick Anthony Davis was considered the frontrunner to win the Rookie of the Year award and expected to turn around the New Orleans Hornets. However, Davis has been sidelined for all but six games with a stress reaction in his sprained left ankle. On Friday, he’ll miss his tenth consecutive game, but it’s looking like he’ll return to the court pretty soon.

Davis hasn’t been medically cleared to practice yet, but he has been with the team and remained active. The Hornets have him on a rehab program as well as a developmental program. The 19-year-old believes he’ll be even better when he returns since he’s been observing and learning from the bench.

“Now, I’m starting to see the game from a coach’s point of view,” Davis said. “I’m sitting on the bench, watching, looking at guy’s tendencies and seeing what they like to do. I’m seeing the flow of the game and what to do in certain situations. It’s helping me learn a lot. The coaches are helping me a lot and I’m watching a lot of film of myself and what I can do better. It just gives me time to rest and I’m just trying to learn from this and hopefully stay healthy when I come back.”

While Davis has only played in six games, he has been exceptional every time he has taken the court. Davis currently has the fourth-highest Player Efficiency Rating in the NBA at 26.36, which trails only LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Tim Duncan. While Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard has emerged as the early frontrunner to win Rookie of the Year, his PER is just 18.49.

If Davis maintains this PER for the rest of the season, he’ll have had one of the best rookie seasons of all-time. Davis’ 26.36 PER would be the higher than just about every modern superstar during their rookie campaign including Michael Jordan (25.8), Shaquille O’Neal (22.9), Tim Duncan (22.6), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (22.5), Magic Johnson (20.6), Larry Bird (20.5), LeBron James (18.3) and Kevin Garnett (15.8).

“It’s been great so far,” Davis said of … [For more on New Orleans Hornets rookie Anthony Davis remains upbeat, click here.]