Anthony Davis: Lonzo Ball, Ex-Lakers 'Are Going to Try to Take Our Heads Off'
Anthony Davis isn't expecting a warm reception in the Big Easy when the Los Angeles Lakers meet the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.
In the buildup to the game, Davis referenced the trade that sent him to Los Angeles and moved the trio of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart to New Orleans.
"It's two-folded," the Lakers star said, per The Athletic's Bill Oram. "It's going to be me [against the] Pelicans, and then the three guys [Ball, Ingram and Hart], if they play, against the Lakers. So it's going to be a great battle. Those guys are going to try to take our heads off just to prove a point."
Davis' trade request this past January not only turned Pelicans fans against him but also created a fractured dynamic in Los Angeles when it became clear the Lakers were targeting the six-time All-Star.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst went so far to posit then-Pelicans general manager Dell Demps was leaking details of ongoing trade negotiations as part of a strategy to send the Lakers' 2018-19 season off the rails:
Things weren't much better in New Orleans. Davis effectively burned whatever bridges remained when he wrote a shirt bearing the Looney Tunes phrase "That's All Folks!" ahead of the last game of the season, which was seemingly a not-so-subtle assertion he wouldn't be back for 2019-20.
He later told reporters he hadn't selected the shirt and that somebody else had laid it out for him.
The Lakers are first in the Western Conference, so everything worked out pretty well for Davis.
Ball, Ingram and Hart are all enjoying career years out of the L.A. spotlight too. Nobody has benefited more than Ingram, who's averaging 26.1 points and shooting 45.9 percent from three-point range.
Still, the trio will undoubtedly carry a chip on their shoulder when they face off with their old team.
The Athletic’s Michael Lee joins “The Full 48 with Howard Beck” to discuss the proposed changes to the NBA schedule, the in-play tournament, reseeding for the Finals, Jimmy Butler, and the Philadelphia 76ers.
