At a public appearance in his hometown of Chicago, NBA superstar Anthony Davis said his New Orleans Pelicans are going to the playoffs this season. He proclaimed it, and making a statement that displays confidence and leadership. Davis also took ownership, adding that is was “on us” (meaning the Pelicans obviously) to get it done.
He’s in town with Team USA basketball, and the World Basketball Festival.
You can hear audio of a segment of Davis’s speech below. Pay special attention around the 5:39-6:04 mark, to the Beyonce discussion. (More on that here)
Since being taken #1 overall out of Kentucky in 2012, Davis has been a force in the NBA, averaging nearly 21 points and 10 rebounds per game in just his second season. He also helped the U.S. win gold at the 2012 London Summer Olympiad. Team USA takes on Brazil in an exhibition Saturday night at the United Center.
Although Anthony Davis is tour de force, the Pelicans are not. They finished just 34-48 last season, 5th in the Southwest division. They’ll have to improve a ton to truly compete in a very loaded Western Conference.
By the way, this strange photo popped up on Reddit this week and is reportedly from a recent commercial shoot Anthony Davis is doing for one of his sponsors. I wanted to ask the superstar Center about it during media availability, but did not have the chance.
I’m sure we’ll get an explanation on this one soon. It reminds me of the Seinfeld “puffy shirt” episode. “You’ll be the first pirate. But I don’t wanna be a pirate!”
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports and Yahoo! He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world. He’s also a special contributor to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Banks has been featured in numerous media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, NBC, CBS, the History Channel and more. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)