Davis claims he’ll play in Boston or anywhere (but New Orleans) ... Silver no fan of trade requests ... Nets’ Harris upsets Curry brothers ... and more on 3-point contest
CHARLOTTE — You can have an all-star weekend that isn’t awkward, just maybe not if Anthony Davis is involved.
Davis, the superstar big man who has demanded a trade out of New Orleans, but is still with the franchise and being booed at home, tried to clear up a few things at Saturday’s media session and then on a TV appearance afterward.
It didn’t go so smoothly. Davis sat down and was promptly asked about reportedly not wanting to end up with the Boston Celtics. His father said Davis didn’t want to go there. The younger Davis went with semantics.
“I never said the Celtics weren’t on my list,” Davis said.
“Market doesn’t matter to me. I just want to win. Big market, small market, it doesn’t matter,” Davis claimed.
“My focus is on winning at this point in my career. Wherever that may be, like it be a big market or a small market.” Later Davis would say that 29 teams are on his list, which was an odd followup.
When NBA Commissioner
Adam Silver had his annual all-star media gathering hours later, about a quarter of the questions sent his way concerned either Davis directly, or trade requests or tampering in general.
“In terms of trade demands, again, certainly, that’s nothing new in this league, and I won’t name names, but some of the greatest players in the history of this league have demanded trades at various points in their contract,” Silver said.
“Having said that, no one likes to see an instance where a player is demanding that he be traded when he still is in the middle of a contractual obligation to a team.
“It’s one of the reasons why, in the most recent case, I fined the player, even though it wasn’t the player, but his agent, who demanded that trade. I recognize that there’s very little I’m going to do to ever stop that completely,” Silver said.
Silver said he doesn’t like trade demands and he wishes they didn’t happen, but recognized that elements of the collective bargaining agreement meant to discourage trade requests have not had the desired effect.
Silver also said he believes the NBA “has all the tools needed in order to investigate and potentially prosecute, so to speak, a tampering claim.”
HARRIS UPSETS THREE-POINT FIELD
Brooklyn guard Joe Harris hit 6-of-7 three-point attempts last week in the first half against the Raptors so maybe he shouldn’t have been a surprising 3-Point Contest winner on Saturday night.
Harris scored 26 in the final to upset hometown hero
Steph Curry, along with his younger brother Seth, last year’s champ Devin Booker,
Portland’s Damian Lillard,
Sacramento’s Buddy Hield,
Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton, Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki,
Charlotte’s Kemba Walker and Toronto’s Danny Green.
Green seemed to be in good shape to advance after a late surge in Round 1 gave him 23 points, but Curry was still to come and put up a ridiculous 27 points to advance.
TATUM TAKES SKILLS IN STYLE
Boston’s Jayson Tatum won the skills contest in spectacular fashion, sinking a three-pointer from half-court to beat out Atlanta’s Trae
Young in the final. Young was at the three-point line about to launch when Tatum stunned the crowd and brought the buzz to Buzz City by nailing his heave.
“I didn’t want to give Trae a chance,” Tatum said.
I had to give myself a chance, throw it up there, and it worked out for the best.”
STARS ON ZION
Duke freshman and likely top pick of the draft Zion Williamson already has the league buzzing about him.
No-doubt rookie of the year Luka Doncic on Williamson, who mixes incredible athleticism with size and strength: “He’s a monster. He’s not from this world.” Two-time league MVP Stephen Curry went outside the box to describe what he likes about Williamson.
“You can’t teach his passion and motor,” Curry said.
“He plays hard every possession and that’s an underrated skill that kids should emulate.”
Curry has a point. Without a non-stop motor and tremendous passion for the game would Toronto’s breakout forward Pascal Siakam have got to where he is now? No chance.
AROUND THE RIM
Hornets star Walker is one of the faces of this weekend, along with the Curry family, but he drew laughs on Saturday when somebody asked what he’s told the other players about what to do in Charlotte: “Nobody asked me yet. I’m just waiting for somebody to ask me,” Walker said … Nowitzki had one of the lines of the day when he sat down for his final all-star media availability: “Good morning, I’m getting old. This doesn’t get old,” Nowitzki said of his 14th all-star weekend appearance. It’s teammate Doncic’s first. “He’s been soaking it all in,” Nowitzki said. “They’re keeping him really busy with appearances left and right, I saw. But he’s 19. You don’t get tired at 19. So he should be good.” Nowitzki surprisingly did not commit to retiring after this season, saying it will depend how his body feels down the stretch. He’s been trying to get right all year following foot surgery and with Dallas having Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis now, that could prompt him to play one more year.