PELICANS’ DAVIS HAS LOFTY NBA DREAMS
Big man makes playoff splash, looks to future
Bill Russell
SAN FRANCIS CO wasn’t walking through those University of San Francisco doors.
The NBA legend who spent his formative years winning back-toback national titles on this campus in the mid-1950s has a longstanding beef with his alma mater, but the signs of his pro- found impact remain everywhere. The bronze plaque in his honor near the front doors of War Memorial Gymnasium. The framed issue of Sports Illustrated that has Russell and Kevin Garnett on the cover and hangs in the basketball office. The pictures in the hallway leading to the Bill Russell Room on the left wing.
But when young Anthony Davis walked through those doors with his New Orleans Pelicans teammates en route to his first playoff practice, it was enough to make you wonder about the legacy that he’ll eventually leave. Like Russell, who received one college scholarship offer coming out of nearby McClymonds High School in Oakland, Chicago-born-andbred Davis was a gangly big man whose late growth spurt spawned his transcendent two-way talents. Like Russell, Davis is considered special not only because of his size and skills but also because of the team-first mentality and basketball IQ that seem to be in such short supply in today’s AAU culture.
“I’m more focused on Golden State, what they’re trying to do to stop us and what we’re trying to do to stop them,” Davis told USA TODAY Sports. “But you do think about Bill Russell and what he did here, what he did for the league. He led the way for guys like us
today. I went in the Bill Russell room, and me and (a Pelicans media relations official) were saying (as they looked at the picture) that he looks so much younger. He and I were in the same predicament. It’s just cool when you see something like that.”
If only because it reminded Davis of where he wants to go.
“When you mention basketball or NBA and you talk about greatest players, I definitely want to be in that conversation,” Davis continued. “You mention Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, all those guys. I want to be in that conversation.”
As Garnett once famously said when he reached the NBA’s mountaintop for the first time, anything is possible. It feels that way with Davis, as if there’s very little he won’t eventually be able to do as he spends the next 15 years playing the part of perennial MVP candidate. His Game 1 performance did little to dissuade that belief, as his 35-point outing was three points shy of tying the NBA record for a playoff debut of 38 by John Williamson in 1979 and fifth most in NBA history.
The Russell comparison is an audacious one, no matter who shares the sentence with him, but the reality is Davis is easily the closest thing to a carbon copy that you can find in today’s NBA. The playoffs, in that regard, are an invaluable part of Davis’ growing process.
To watch Davis before Game 1 at Oracle Arena was to understand why this experience truly matters.
As he stood at his locker on Saturday morning, Davis was asked by the NBA TV folks if he would be willing to put his jersey on just for the sake of the cameras. He obliged, then muttered in an innocuous kind of way, “Y’all are messing up my routine, man.”
The pressure and the playoff spotlight must be lived and breathed to be understood, especially for a player such as Davis, who isn’t used to these kinds of demands.
New Orleans, for all of its charm, is a small market that receives little media attention during the regular-season months and where Davis, for the most part, is allowed to clock in and clock out as he pleases. To wit: The local newspaper, The Times-Picayune, did not send any reporters to cover the team on the road after the All- Star break, even with the Pelicans in the midst of a playoff race.
And while the Pelicans surely would have taken pride in their season even if they didn’t make the postseason, the value of being here is enormous.
The well-deserved credit coming Monty Williams’ way is vital, because the fifth-year coach has a unique relationship with Davis that both men hope lasts well beyond Williams’ contract (through next season).
Pro sports being pro sports, the fact they are sharing their first postseason appearance together was surely vital when it comes to the partnership staying intact.
Williams has been booed routinely in New Orleans. That was the root of Davis’ postgame TV speech when the Pelicans beat the San Antonio Spurs on the last day of the regular season to get into the playoffs, when he defended his coach. “I love him, man. I love him,” Davis said.
“I think when you have history together, you go through a lot good and bad,” Williams said. “And we’ve been through so much. It’s not always about what people say and how that affects you, but we have a ton of experience together. It’s different from his rookie season, where I told him to explore and enjoy it. I want him to attack it now. We’re both not just trying to be here and compete and have a good showing. We’re trying to win. I want him to be mindful of that.”
No matter what happens in this series, that’s what Davis and the Pelicans will hold on to here. It’s just the beginning, with the possibilities seemingly endless from there.