NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Anthony Davis is tiring of the narrative that his pro basketball career would be better served if he played somewhere other than New Orleans.
During All-Star weekend, the face of the Pelicans franchise will have a chance to exhibit why building a winner in the Big Easy matters to him. And if his enthusiasm for his adopted hometown proves contagious among some of the elite talent gathering in the NBA’s Gulf South outpost, all the better for the “Brow.”
“I was definitely excited for All-Star to come to New Orleans again; New Orleans is a fun place,” said Davis, who was a second-year pro and first-time All-Star when the NBA’s annual marquee event last came to the city in 2014. “It will be a good chance for other players to experience our city, the culture in New Orleans with Mardi Gras and all, and see why we feel New Orleans is one the best places to play basketball as far as the fan base that we have and the culture of the city and everything like that.”
The All-Star game wasn’t supposed to return to New Orleans quite this quickly, but the league pulled the game Charlotte earlier this year because of a North Carolina state law that limits protections of LGBT people.
But this All-Star weekend will be different for Davis than his first, when he was still getting comfortable with pro basketball and life in New Orleans. Davis, nicknamed “the Unibrow” since his college days at Kentucky, was a Western Conference reserve in 2014. Now he’s among the most popular players in the world and an All-Star starter boasting gaudy statistics of nearly 28 points and 12 rebounds per game – not to mention season highs of 50 points, 22 rebounds and six blocks.