Anthony Davis Intends to Play Amid Rumors He's Played His Last Game for Pelicans

Anthony Davis wants to continue playing basketball. Some within the New Orleans Pelicans want him to be done with the franchise altogether.

When the Pelicans return from the All-Star break, it appears things could be coming to a head.

Scott Kushner of The Advocate reported some members of the Pelicans staff "believe AD has played his last game for the franchise." Davis, meanwhile, has publicly said he plans on continuing to play the remainder of the season.

"It's a business, I understand it," Davis said Saturday. "When we were talking (previously) about playing or not playing, I understood it from their perspective. We wanted to gets something done and it didn't happen. So my job is to play, and that's what I'm going to continue to do."

Davis publicly requested a trade last month, telling the Pelicans he would not sign a supermax contract this summer and would leave the franchise in 2020 as a free agent if he's not traded. The Pelicans took offers before the Feb. 6 deadline but did not appear to get close to moving him.

The Los Angeles Lakers were the main aggressor in trade talks, but New Orleans decided to push the talks into the summer. It's widely believed the Pelicans are waiting on a potential offer from the Boston Celtics, who have the Jayson Tatum trump card. Tatum is one of the best young players in basketball and a potential post-Davis franchise cornerstone.

The decision to wait, however, has created an awkward situation. The Pelicans wanted to sit a healthy Davis for the remainder of the season. However, Davis requested he continue to play, and the NBA intervened on his behalf.

"League rules governing competitive integrity therefore require that he be permitted to play," league spokesperson Mike Bass told Marc Stein of the New York Times.

The situation came to a head just before the All-Star break, when Davis suffered a shoulder injury in Thursday's win over the Oklahoma City Thunder and left the arena before the game with agent Rich Paul. It was later revealed he left in order to get an MRI on his shoulder. 

The Pelicans fired general manager Dell Demps the next day.

Davis played five minutes for Team LeBron in the All-Star Game, scoring five points and adding one rebound. 

"Guys didn't talk about it. I mean we didn't even see each other that much to talk about it," Davis told reporters on whether he was recruited at all during the break. "We were just here to get ready for this game today and that's really what we did."