NBA Superstar's Dad Rips City of Boston: 'No Loyalty'
The metropolitan area may be representing the AFC in Super Bowl LIII on Sunday and may have recently won the World Series, but Boston isn’t for every athlete — including, apparently, Anthony Davis.
At least that’s what we are led to believe judging from comments that Anthony Davis Sr. made about his son.
With speculation that the New Orleans Pelicans star could be traded to the Celtics as soon as this NBA offseason, the elder Davis ripped the city of Boston for its supposed lack of loyalty to athletes.
“I would never want my son to play for Boston after what they done to Isaiah Thomas,” he told ESPN on Friday, referencing the former Celtics star point guard who was traded for Kyrie Irving while recovering from a hip injury.
“No loyalty,” Davis Sr. said. “Guy gives his heart and soul and they traded him.”
During the 2016-17 season, Thomas finished third in the league in scoring for the Celtics and also placed in the top five in MVP voting.
He then injured his hip during the playoffs and was traded by the team three months later in a deal in which Boston acquired Kyrie Irving.
Davis Sr. made it clear that his words were simply that, his words, and that he wasn’t speaking for his son.
“This is just my opinion, not Anthony’s,” the elder Davis said. “I’ve just seen things over the years with Boston, and there’s no loyalty.”
There has been speculation that Anthony Davis wants to go to Los Angeles and play for the Lakers, but he rejected the notion that he has specifically requested a trade to LA.
“I’m not sure where that’s coming from. Maybe a connection with my representation,” Davis said of agent Rich Paul, according to ESPN. Paul also represents the Lakers’ LeBron James.
If the Celtics are interested in Davis, they can’t make any deals for him until this summer by the rules of the collective bargaining agreement.
Teams are forbidden from trading for two players with designated player contracts, and the Celtics already have one of those players in Irving.
That restriction will expire July 1, when Irving can opt out of his contract and become a free agent, thus clearing the way for Boston to trade for Davis and re-sign Irving.
The Celtics are loaded with the kind of young talent that the Pelicans would want for a franchise player like Davis.
They also have an advantage that the Lakers don’t have and that is a bounty of draft picks available. The Celtics have four first-round picks in the 2019 NBA draft, while the Lakers only have one first-rounder in each of the next four seasons.
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