New Orleans Pelicans: Why we love Jrue Holiday and hate Anthony Davis

Jrue Holiday is an NBA Champion, which means that for two years in a  row, a key player who has left the New Orleans Pelicans went on to win a title with another team.

While it is never fun to see your ex-players dominating for someone else, there was a distinctly different feeling when Holiday lifted the championship trophy than when Anthony Davis did.

Unlike Davis, fans were happy and excited for Jrue Holiday, who is still a fan favorite in New Orleans even after quietly requesting a trade out of town.

Both players more or less did the same thing in New Orleans, so why is one player still beloved and the other enemy number one?

New Orleans Pelicans: Jrue Holiday showed the heart that Anthony Davis never had.

The main reason fans of the Pelicans love Jrue Holiday so much is the way he played the game when he was in New Orleans.

Holiday never complained, played hard every night, tried to be a leader, played through injuries and did whatever the Pelicans asked to help them win. He wanted desperately to bring a winner to the Big Easy and busted his butt every night to make it happen, whether the Pelicans were asking him to be the leading scorer, facilitator or guard the other team’s best player.

Anthony Davis was nearly the polar opposite. While he had some monster games and seasons for the Pelicans, it never seemed like he was “all-in” on the team or city. He wasn’t a great team leader and put his personal comfort ahead of what was best for he team. Everyone knew he should be playing some center but he refused. He was also constantly injured and never found a way to play through them.

He was the anti-Jrue Holiday, which is the main reason Holiday is still loved and he isn’t, but there are more.