Anthony Davis seems like a good dude.
While others elect to poke fun at the roster that the New Orleans Pelicans’ have built around him, he prefers to embrace his situation and tune out the noise. He hears it, make no mistake. But he doesn’t care, per ESPN.com’s Justin Verrier:
Davis, speaking to ESPN’s Marc Stein on the “TrueHoop: Conversations” podcast, acknowledged that he hears talk about his current predicament but doesn’t necessarily agree.
“I hear it. I see it. I’m on social media, so I see it all the time,” Davis told Stein. “But I think, for me, it’s just about the guys in that locker room. I know they come out here every day in practice and every night in the game and fight and leave everything on the floor. It’s nothing that I try to pay attention to as much. But you see it. You have to pay attention to it.
“For me, that’s not my M.O. to get into all the media and all that stuff. I just worry about what’s going on in that locker room and on the floor with the guys I have in the locker room.”
This is an admirable stance to assume with the Pelicans sitting at 6-12 and armed to the teeth with injury-prone talent and wild cards. Granted, it’s easier to be loyal when you’re 23, with another four years remaining on your contract. It helps, too, that the Pelicans have won four of their last six games, and that Jrue Holiday, a star-caliber point guard when healthy, is back in the fold.
Still, it would be easy for Davis to champion the slightest signs of displeasure. The Pelicans have made the playoffs just once since he entered the league, and they’ve failed time and again to adequately rebuild or expedite said rebuild. And now, with another playoff berth a long shot, they remain caught in this weird limbo, between competing and rebuilding. That stasis can wear on you when the talent around you isn’t there.
No, it’s not like the Pelicans are barren of NBA-level players. But when guys like Tim Frazier, Solomon Hill and Terrence Jones make up some of your most important cast members, you’re not going to win a ton of games—not even when Davis is your centerpiece. That he seems to be standing by his guys and remaining patient is a testament to his maturity and leadership, two things that aren’t mentioned nearly enough when it comes to this 23-year-old superhuman.
