It looks like New Orleans Pelicans’ fans are still mad at Anthony Davis

It doesn’t matter what the sport is, when a star player requests a trade from his current franchise, the fans of that team are not going to take too kindly to them for a little while after that. That is especially the case if said player has never won a championship with that team (fans tend to be more understanding of a player wanting to go elsewhere if they bring some hardwood to the franchise before their exodus).

For a long time, that’s how things have been between Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans since the big man requested a trade from the only team he’d ever known in the middle of the 2018-19 season. Davis was traded that subsequent offseason to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that netted the team All-Star forward Brandon Ingram.

(Sidebar: It is also worth mentioning that the stealth tanking New Orleans participated in after Davis made his trade request official helped the team increase their lottery odds enough to get the number one overall pick in the 2019 Draft – the draft where they selected Zion Williamson.)

Given the ugly manner of how his tenure ended, it is understandable that the Pelicans faithful were a bit hostile toward Davis for a little while. But that was four years ago, and the team has bounced back from the deal pretty nicely, all things considered. So, surely they no longer feel any ill-will toward Davis. Right? Wrong.

On Wednesday, in the middle of the Lakers conference semifinals game against the Golden State Warriors, we asked fans if they were rooting for their old franchise icon during these playoffs. And as you can see from the results of the poll, the answer appears to be a resounding “no.”

I guess that doesn’t prove that they are still mad at Davis for leaving. But it does certainly prove that they aren’t ready to start rooting for their former star just yet. How much longer will it be until that day comes? Or is this how it is always going to be until the day that Davis retires?