It sounds like we can count out a reunion between Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans.
Despite requesting a trade out of New Orleans in 2019, Davis initially thought that an eventual return to the Big Easy could be a possibility, but then the Pelicans failed to give Davis a tribute video in his first game back in New Orleans as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, and that rubbed him the wrong way.
“When I went back, I did not get a tribute, and that was the final straw. Never got a tribute. I didn’t get a tribute going back to New Orleans, which pissed me off,” Davis said during an appearance on Draymond Green’s podcast.
“…I told [Pelicans owner] Gayle Benson right before the deadline when I was asking for a trade… I told her, ‘This might not be the end, though. Later on in my career, who knows if I was to come back and we try to do something special as I’m older. … I left that door open, and when I went back that first game and got no tribute, I said ‘Oh, that door is closed.’”
Anthony Davis Was Irked About Not Getting a Tribute Video From Pelicans
Tribute videos have become very commonplace in the NBA today, so it’s extremely surprising that Davis didn’t get one from the Pelicans given the enormous impact he had on the franchise.
Davis is New Orleans’ all-time leader in points, rebounds and blocks. He made several All-Star and All-NBA teams as a member off the Pelicans and fully justified the team’s decision to draft him with the No. 1 overall pick in 2012 in the process.
Perhaps not giving Davis a well-deserved tribute video was simply an oversight by the Pelicans as an organization, but it’s easy to understand why it would annoy him, especially after seeing some of the other players who have been acknowledged via video by former franchises.
Anthony Davis Also Had a Bone to Pick With the Lakers
The Pelicans weren’t the only former franchise that Davis had a bone to pick with during his appearance on Green’s show. He also called out the Lakers for how they handled his trade to the Dallas Mavericks prior to the deadline last year.
“I had no idea this was happening. And I couldn’t make sense of it. … From a business standpoint, I can’t be mad. But why? It just caught me off guard,” Davis said.
“I still think I deserved much more respect than that. All the time I’ve been here. S—, I was there six years. We won a championship. All this stuff, and I can’t get a phone call or a text of, ‘This is what we’re thinking.’”
Davis is clearly a guy who takes things personally, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Many great athletes are that way, as they’re able to turn perceived slights into motivation. Having now been traded by three different organizations, Davis will have a real reason to come out with a chip on his shoulder when he makes his debut for the Washington Wizards next season.
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