Lakers' Anthony Davis 'Nervous' for Pelicans Game: 'That's a Game of the Year'
Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis said he regrets flipping off a New Orleans Pelicans fan last season and admitted he's "nervous" about his return to NOLA for Wednesday night's game.
Davis discussed his unceremonious exit from the Pelicans after the 2018-19 NBA season during an interview with The Athletic and Stadium's Shams Charania, which was released Tuesday:
The 26-year-old Chicago native and his representatives went public with a trade demand ahead of the 2019 NBA trade deadline in February, which led to a $50,000 fine from the league and created ample tension between the six-time All-Star and the New Orleans fanbase after he wasn't moved.
Pelicans fans booed Davis during the stretch run of the regular season, a practice he expects to continue Wednesday, and he admitted to Charania he let the build of emotions get the better of him when he flashed his middle finger toward a fan in April.
"Some fan disrespected me. Said something I didn't like," he wrote in an Instagram message after the incident. "Never disrespected the city and never will. But of course they not gonna show what the fan said."
The NBA fined Davis $15,000 for the obscene gesture toward a fan.
"It was just all the emotions bottled up in one ... it just happened," he told Charania. "That's one thing I do regret."
The Pelicans traded the first overall pick in the 2012 draft to the Lakers in July for a massive package of young players and future draft picks. New Orleans proceeded to select its new franchise cornerstone, Zion Williamson, with the No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft.
Williamson hasn't made his NBA debut because he is recovering from knee surgery and won't be available when Davis makes his first return to the Smoothie King Center. But former Lakers Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram will be on the floor, and Josh Hart may return from an ankle sprain to play against his former team as well.
The teams have been on divergent paths during the early stages of the 2019-20 campaign as the Lakers own a 15-2 record, while the Pelicans stand at 6-11.
Tipoff for the hyped encounter is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET Wednesday on ESPN.
