To argue that Anthony Davis wasn’t himself the other day would be to grossly understate the obvious. After all, he managed just three points off one basket and one free throw in playing half the game, his eight misses from the field coming just one short of his combined aggregate in rebounds and blocks. The offensive output was his worst ever in any match he was able to burn rubber for at least 21 minutes, and he wasn’t happy. In his post-mortem, he professed that he missed “a lot of easy shots, layups and stuff that I normally make,” adding to his frustration.
Significantly, Davis wasn’t himself off the court, either. Not normally predisposed to verbosity, he went out of character and accompanied a glaring self-assessment with even more pointed pronouncements that appeared to be directed at the other Pelicans. “We sucked,” he contended. “Nobody was interested in playing. That’s what it looked like.” Considering that he had hitherto all but demanded to be dealt before the trade deadline, he was no doubt frustrated to find himself still headed towards yet another early vacation.
Indeed, the Pelicans aren’t headed anywhere but to the lottery. No doubt, they harbored aspirations of a deep run in the 2018-19 season following an inspiring campaign that had them making the conference semifinals for the first time with Davis as the centerpiece. Instead, they were derailed by injuries early on, leading their franchise player to request for a change of address to a contender and thereby sealing their fate. And given their understandable intent to get more than pennies to the dollar for their most valuable asset, they face an immediate future that is rocky at best.
To be sure, the Pelicans would be right to place blame on Davis’ shoulders. He was the one who tried to twist their arm by publicly asking out. Then, when his wish wasn’t granted, he insisted on suiting up alongside teammates already primed to move on without him. When he says he wants to go to a contender, he’s indicating that they’re not good enough to be one. When he says he has to go all out just for them to have a chance to win, he’s indicating they’re doormats without him. While he may well be speaking the truth, they’re not wrong to counter that he’s actually pulling them down.
True, the Pelicans could have avoided the lingering fallout by going for the Lakers’ bets offer prior to the trade deadline. Instead, they saw it as underwhelming in the face of a potential blockbuster coming from the Celtics. Now, they are compelled to accept the risks and the consequences of their decision to wait. And because addition by subtraction will come later, they have no choice but to accept mail-in performances over the remaining 27 games of a once-promising season.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
