Anthony Davis Slammed For Injury Farce And Public Trade Demand

Anthony Davis seems to be making more enemies than friends after the entire trade request saga with the New Orleans Pelicans. The power forward wanted to leave before the deadline on Feb.7 but his current employers decided to ignore the offers on the table and keep him at least until the summer.

The Los Angeles Lakers were desperate to get the deal over the line before the summer but their offers fell on deaf ears despite them offering five players and draft picks. The Pelicans initially decided to bench Davis after the whole saga, but decided to let him return to the playing squad.

He was out with a fractured finger during the trade talks, but returned the week after in disastrous fashion. The forward, rated amongst the top-3 players in the NBA, managed just three points in 24 minutes during their loss against the Orlando Magic.

In his second game against Oklahoma City Thunder, Davis suffered a shoulder injury in what looked like an innocuous collision just before the conclusion of the first half and chose not to return for the rest of the game. His relationship with the Pelicans was already at breaking point and he did not help it by leaving the arena for an MRI with agent Rich Paul before the game concluded.

He then added further insult by making himself available for the 2019 NBA All-Star game on Sunday night when he played for Team LeBron and even though he played just five minutes, NBA writer Mark Powell deemed prior to the game that it will be an insult to all Pelicans fans and the management.

“Pelicans fans everywhere should be furious with Anthony Davis,” Powell wrote for 12up. “This isn't just because Davis demanded a trade and has essentially quit on his team. Rather, instead of simply flirting with LeBron James on All-Star weekend while he sits on the bench with a self-described injury, Davis will play.”

“This comes just a few days after the latest AD-Pelicans blowup, in which the New Orleans star left the game early to undergo an MRI away from the team's home stadium. What the hell is going on?"

“Sure, anyone with a brain could've told you Davis likely exaggerated his symptoms in an attempt to get away from a team in chaos. But by not living out that lie a little longer, Davis has effectively spat in the face of the Pelicans organization and their fans in the process,” he added.

Meanwhile, NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has also joined in on the list of former players and experts criticizing Davis for asking for a trade publicly and allowing his agent to make it a big scene. The six-time NBA champion believes such requests should be made behind closed doors and this has now made life more difficult for him.

“He can’t go back and do it right or more sensibly, so he has made it harder on himself by doing it that way,” Abdul-Jabbar said, as quoted on the Express. “He didn’t know. His agent opened his mouth too soon."