Zion Williamson appears to be one of the most level-headed rookies this season, but Anthony Davis says the New Orleans Pelicans rookie “kind of hates” him.
Though one might assume that the issue that Williamson has with Davis is due to the former Pelicans star’s refusal to stay with the franchise despite acquiring the No. 1 pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, it is supposedly an incident from Williamson’s high school days.
“He kind of hates me after he said I didn’t give him an autograph in high school,” Davis said according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I didn’t really see him [at the time]. He said he wanted my autograph in high school or something like that.”
Though the Los Angeles Lakers forward doesn’t seem to be the type to intentionally refuse a kid an autograph, Davis’ “snub” has led Williamson to try to sign autographs for every young fan that asks for it.
“I try to sign every kid’s autograph,” Williamson said in a video documentary in 2016. “I don’t want to turn a little kid down because I know it will hurt them because it hurt me. Anthony Davis, John Wall turned me down. So I try to sign everybody’s.”
Despite the misunderstanding that happened between the two, Davis said he is willing to give his time to Williamson to help him successfully get through his rookie season.
“But no, I don’t really have a relationship with him,” Davis added. “If he ever wanted to reach out, I’d be more than happy to talk to him, just kind of walk him through my experience out there and just in the league in general.”
Williamson had a sensational debut versus the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday. In only 18 minutes of action, the Duke University phenom scored 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 from 3-point range to go along with seven rebounds and three assists.
New Orleans lost, 121-117, but Williamson’s long-awaited NBA debut finally happened after he missed the first few months of the season due to a knee injury.
