Anthony Davis: ‘It’s always fun going against the big guys’
In the NBA, there are “stars” and there are “superstars,” and at the moment, no one is shining brighter than Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans! Davis was the Most Valuable Player of the recent All-Star game, which just so happened to be played at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans!
It couldn’t have been a more fitting tribute to the franchise star of the Pelicans, who broke the scoring record of 42 points by legend Wilt Chamberlain in 1962, tallying a whopping 52 points! Though they are languishing in 11th spot in the Western Conference, things look to get better after they acquired coveted big man DeMarcus Cousins from Sacramento last week, so expect bigger and better things from Davis and company. Like they had a crystal ball, the NBAheld an international media conference right before the All-Star weekend!
You’ve been playing great lately, but your team hasn’t been as successful, does this frustrate you? Would you think of leaving the team?
ANTHONY DAVIS: I like our team now! We’re always just kind of injured, and so it’s tough to win games when a lot of your top guys are out. But we have to find a way. We have a team that’s able to compete for the playoffs. We showed that a couple times this year, where we can match up with anybody. We’re not afraid of anyone. We feel like we’re just as good as any other team in this league, but we’ve just got to find a way to stay healthy and to be a little bit more consistent. Is winning the All-Star Game MVP one of your goals for this weekend?
Yeah. I’m going to try to go out there and win the MVP, of course. It’s in New Orleans, so I’m going to try to go out there and play to the best of my ability. That’s definitely one of the goals, to go out there and try to win MVP. Is there any change in your mentality from that All-Star Game three years ago to now?
I’ll just be more aggressive. Even when I play Sunday, I’m going to play like it’s a regular-season game. I’m going to go out there and be aggressive and just play my game. That’s the only way you can do them. Of course, it’s not taken seriously until the fourth quarter, but I just try to go out there and play defense, do my thing on offense and just have fun. The most important thing is that you have
fun and that’s what I’m going to try to do.
Talk about the evolution of the big man and the need to have an all-around game.
The game has definitely evolved. Every big man that comes into the league is getting better and better and adding more to their game. It makes our game a lot more fun. I think, of course, it’s kind of tough where you still have some bigs who have the back-to-the-basket game that you have to defend. I have to defend Dwight Howard and all these bigger guys who play with their back to the basket. But for the most part, it’s fun to go against other guys who can do some of the same things as you. Who do you think is the best young big man in the NBA today?
I’m going to say myself. I wouldn’t say anybody is better than me. That is the mentality I have. Recently, me and Karl (Anthony Towns) went head-to-head in Minnesota. So it’s always fun going against the big guys in the league.
***