Anthony Davis Reminded the Pelicans What They Had

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Anthony Davis’s return to New Orleans went fantastically well.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Graythen/Getty Images.)

We all know Anthony Davis wanted to leave the Pelicans. And he did so after the team traded him to Los Angeles for quite a lot of assets. Could he have done this approach better? Of course. Maybe it could’ve been kept more private and maybe it could’ve had better timing (preferrably before the season than during the season).

But every NBA player has different goals in different times of their lives. Yes, there are some like Damian Lillard who want to stay in one place their entire NBA career. And some of them want to play for a contender. The Lakers weren’t a contender when Davis got traded there but it had the potential to be with LeBron James on the team.

It’s easy for the fans to blame and boo Davis. But hey, it’s not like management did an excellent job putting a team around him. And Davis just ran out of patience. He was there for seven seasons. They only made the playoffs twice during his tenure. Even though his team made the West semifinals the season before he asked for a trade, it seemed like he saw the writing on the wall when he saw the Pelicans record right before his demand went public (New Orleans was 22-28 when the news got out).

Still, it’s funny how things go. Not only did Davis hurt the Pelicans and their fan base (not Deontay Wilder hurt, mind you) with the demand and eventual trade but his first game back was just a gut shot (also not from Deontay Wilder). It was like the Lakers forcefed Davis the entire time. Yes, there was a match-up problem (then again, when is Davis NOT a match-up problem?) but it just felt like they were showing the Pelicans what they were missing. To top it all off, the man with the unibrow stole an inbounds pass with 5.3 ticks left as the Lakers held on to a two-point lead. The #1 pick from the 2012 NBA Draft finished his former team off with two foul shots. Davis scored 41 points, the most points scored ever in a first game against a former team.

So the lesson here? Take care of your superstar and build the right pieces around him. Winning is the antidote for nearly everything. Not everyone’s going to be Damian Lillard, who has made it known several times that he wants to stay in one place.

He’s Anthony Davis. He’s his own unique person.

Bullet Passes

The Lakers are 16-2 and it’s still weird. That switch came into play again. They were down by 16 against the inspired Pelicans team before the Lakers came storming back. Of note, Kyle Kuzma helped big-time in that comeback by going 4 for 4 from three. Take away his first three games and he is shooting 20 for 44 from three (.454).

LeBron James hit 33,000 career points and is only the fourth player in the NBA to ever do that. Only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38.387), Karl Malone (36,928), and Kobe Bryant (33,643) have more points. LeBron should catch Kobe in the near future.

The Washington Wizards scored 140 against Phoenix. They scored over 130 in 5 out of the 16 games this season. They are 3-2 when that happens.

Kemba Walker came back from that terrifying neck sprain and scored a season-high 39 points against the Nets in a 121-110 victory.

Before that game, by the way, these posters were being put up around Boston. Kyrie Irving was NOT playing so…

Not the most flattering Kyrie poster.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Malika Andrews.)

Kyrie Irving was understandably upset about it. He charged that “sports/entertainment will always be more important than people.”

And honestly, I get him. Booing is part of sports fandom. There will always be a protagonist and antagonist in every form of conflict and that includes sports. But Kyrie believes that line is always crossed. A lot of fans don’t care about the human being in the professional athlete, which is the point Kyrie is trying to get across. I don’t think he’s being overdramatic at all, especially after what he had been through the last year with his grandfather dying and all.

So maybe actually be careful about other people’s feelings, guys. I understand the booing but boo because he’s the “bad guy” in the sports conflict, not because he’s a bad guy for real.

On the other side of the spectrum, here’s a feelgood moment. Carmelo Anthony played in his first Blazers home game. He went 9 for 11 and scored 19 points. The Blazers won against his former team, the Thunder, going away and he received a standing ovation as he went to the bench.

Carmelo Anthony wasn’t in the league 10 days ago. Now he’s getting standing ovations in his home stadium 💯 pic.twitter.com/yS1BR1mOfc

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 28, 2019

The Blazers have won two straight, too. Here’s hoping they get on a roll.

Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo bullied Vince Carter inside. Don’t do that to middle-aged men! (Wait a minute; I’m only a year younger than him…)

The Golden State Warriors won a game! And Klay Thompson did some commentary during the game! This was outstanding.