Skip Bayless Throws Shade at Anthony Davis, Says Pelicans Will Be Better Without Him

Anthony Davis had a huge game versus the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night, but Skip Bayless believes the Los Angeles Lakers forward’s departure was good for his former team.

The Lakers defeated the Pelicans 114-110 with Davis leading the way. He finished with 41 points, the most ever scored by a player against his former team.

Yet for all his individual accolades during his seven years with the Pelicans, Davis received an unforgiving assessment from the “Undisputed” show host.

“I have no idea why those fans were booing Anthony Davis,” Bayless said. “Because the truth is Anthony Davis really came up small for them over his seven years there. His regular season record as the centerpiece of the New Orleans Pelicans, 216-250 was his record. That’s way below .500. And he had a good deal of help around him. He had all kinds of Boogies (DeMarcus Cousins), and he still had Jrue [Holiday], he had [Rajon] Rondo for a stretch. He had lots of help there.

“And I gotta tell you, last night, he was as focused and driven as I think I’ve ever seen him, because he really wanted to show them and LeBron [James] was poised to set him up to show them, ‘Here’s what I can do.’ So to me, I don’t know why they would even waste their energy booing because they’re going to be better with Zion [Williamson] and Zo (Lonzo Ball) and B.I. (Brandon Ingram) and Jrue is still there. I love this team with Josh Hart.

“They’re going to be more successful and much more entertaining than they used to be with A.D. there because half the time he never looked like he was really into being there in the first place. So I don’t know why they’re wasting their energy, they should just save it to root for Zion when he comes back some time second, third week in December.”

As brutal as Bayless was in his summary of Davis’ stay in New Orleans, there is some merit to his rant against one of the league’s best players.

Davis was only able to carry the franchise to the playoffs twice and they never made it past the Western Conference semifinals.

Despite the unflattering performance by the Pelicans during his tenure, Davis was a trooper and a true professional on the court. He was a 2012-13 All-Rookie team member, made the All-Star Team six times, won the All-Star MVP once, led the league in blocks three times and made an All-Defensive team three times.

Davis averaged 23.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.4 blocks per game in New Orleans.