Anthony Davis' Trip to Hollywood

Anthony Davis’ Return to New Orleans

The Los Angeles Lakers (15-2) head to New Orleans (6-11) to take on the Pelicans Wednesday night. Typically, a game between a championship contender and a rebuilding roster wouldn’t draw much attention, but this isn’t just an ordinary game. Lakers’ star Anthony Davis, AD, returns to the team who drafted the Kentucky product in 2012, after going on a rocky road trying to get to Hollywood. The question we all are asking is what will the return of Davis bring to the arena? Will it be cheers, boos, or silence? The heavily anticipated game has led to a lot of conversation between the media and Davis.

“It's going to be me against the Pelicans and then the three guys, if they play, against the Lakers, so it's going to be a great battle,'' said Davis. Davis went on to say he knows how his former Pelican fans are going to react when they see him, given how this past year has played out.

It began in January of this year. Davis and his agent, Rich Paul, publicly announced Davis’ desire to be traded from the Pelicans. All of a sudden, the Pelicans' ownership had to deal with the swirling rumors that Davis wanted to team up with LeBron James - also represented by Paul - in LA The Lakers offered the unimaginable - willing to trade almost their entire team for Davis.

However, the Pelicans refused to deal Davis anywhere, especially not to the Lakers. Time passed and so did the February trade deadline. Davis was indeed staying in New Orleans for the remainder of the season and Los Angeles began tip-toeing around their young stars, with the players feeling dispensable after almost being traded. New Orleans General Manager, Dell Demps, was fired after the drama of the trade demand subsided and the Lakers’ remaining tension created a divide within the locker room. Both teams slumped towards the end of the 2018/19 season and began searching for new ways to make changes to improve for the following campaign.

Fast forward to the summer leading into the 2019-20 NBA season, and the league-wide fear of a dominant Laker team, became a reality. Davis was shipped to Los Angeles for Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, and a multitude of picks. Davis got his championship contending team and the young core of LA got a fresh start. Now Davis returns to New Orleans, but this time as the villian - playing for the Lakers. Anger, it would seem, is still prevalent among the newly acquired Pelican players. While on a podcast with Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart compared Ball’s mention of the gloomy Lithunaian weather to his experience on the Lakers, “Sounds like LA” and later adding “...I’m not talking about the city”.

One thing’s for sure. When Davis and co. step on the floor at Smoothie King Center on Wednesday night, the reception will be anything but warm.