A unique star, posting triple-digits regularly in relative obscurity, with only a few first-round playoff ousters to his name.
Kevin Garnett has been there.
“I told Anthony Davis this to his face,” Garnett, now with TNT, told USA Today last week. “‘You are not playing against the guys you are squaring up against every night. You are playing against history, man.’
“Anthony Davis playing in New Orleans, I don’t want to say they are wasted days, but they are non-days. He needs to be somewhere where he can be with another guy and they can have a run at a championship. He has been in New Orleans long enough. It is time for a change now. This is it. No better time to do this.”
That’s advice LeBron James could have dispensed, too. Davis can ponder his future because James wants a piece of it, saying that linking up with the superstar center would be “great,” as the Lakers hunt for pieces with which to surround James. Davis was hesitant initially — as some around the NBA were bothered by what could be construed as James’ tampering — but did have dinner with James on Friday night after the Lakers beat the Pelicans, according to Yahoo.
“I don’t really care,” Davis said Wednesday. “Obviously, it’s cool to hear any high-caliber player say they want to play with me. But my job is to turn this team around.”
That’s how Garnett felt for a time, too, as he languished in Minnesota for his first 12 seasons with just one trip to the Western Conference finals to show for it. And then came the 2007 trade to Boston, where he finally was surrounded by suitable talent, and a championship came in 2008. Garnett wants Davis to take the plunge.
“When Anthony Davis suits up for the Pelicans, that’s the best the Pelicans are going to be right there,” Garnett told USA Today. “They are capped out. They are playing at the top of the level they can play at. Davis with LeBron James — he goes to another level and that’s scary.
“That’s why he needs to go to a team where he has a chance to hoist the trophy or at least have a chance at going in that direction. He doesn’t have that. Great players need to be with other great players. He is still ‘the guy’ when LeBron is there. They are both ‘the guy.’ That’s why you bring your superpowers together.”
