Anthony Davis says there’ll be no ‘vendetta’ in Sunday’s game against Pelicans

Despite returning to the place where he began his career in a game of huge importance for both teams, Anthony Davis said there won’t be any personal vendetta against the Pelicans on Sunday.

It’s impossible to tell the story of Anthony Davis’ career without heavily including the Pelicans. It’s where AD started his career and blossomed into one of the stars of the NBA.

Similarly, it’s also impossible to talk about his career without including his exit from the franchise. It certainly wasn’t a clean separation and left scars for New Orleans fans that haven’t fully healed.

Sunday, then, could be seen as an emotional matchup. Both the Pelicans and Lakers control their own destinies with wins securing their respective spots in the standings. Obviously, both can’t win the game, so it’ll certainly be a high-stakes contest.

But, at least for AD, it won’t be more than that. Asked if the contest would have any extra meaning with it being against his old team, Davis was very direct that it was nothing more than a game while speaking after Friday’s win over the Grizzlies.

“I think after I got traded five seasons ago,” Davis said, “those were times where it’s something. But, now, it doesn’t mean anything to me now. It was five years ago. Obviously, I spent a lot of my career – seven years there – but…as far as personal vendetta or anything like that, I don’t know if they do but I don’t.”

Davis’ split with the Pelicans was so acrimonious that the franchise never showed him a tribute video upon his return. In fairness, AD was not innocent in the messiness of the divorce, but neither side handled it well.

Because of that, while this may be business as usual for AD, Pelicans fans have had a bit more pep in their step in this contest in the five years since. It hasn’t stopped Davis from routinely winning the game as he’s won 10 of the 13 games against New Orleans since joining the Lakers.

This game will have plenty of emotion to it. It’s, for all intents and purposes, a playoff game for both sides. Intensity will be high, pressure will be high and emotions will be high, but not for any other reason than the stakes of the game.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.