The weird thing about this comment is that New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry isn’t necessarily wrong. Gentry, coming off a NBA championship as an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors, was officially introduced as the Pelicans head man on Monday.
Among the newsworthy comments that Gentry made was the fact that he called forward Anthony Davis the second-best player in the Association:
“We got the best player in the NBA, not named LeBron James,” Gentry said of Anthony Davis, via the Times-Picayune. “But I’m really excited. I look at the roster and I lot of these guys I have a special relationship with.”
What may seem a bit outlandish on the surface isn’t too far off.
At just 22-year-old, Davis hasn’t even come close to hitting his ceiling yet. Despite this, he put up an average of 24.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and a league-leading 2.9 blocks per game this past season. The former No. 1 pick also shot 54 percent from the field and 80 percent from the charity stripe.
His overall game is already among the best in the game.
Considering Gentry just got done watching Stephen Curry put up a historical MVP season with Golden State, this is some pretty mighty praise from the new Pelicans head coach.
It’s going to be exciting to see how Davis fits into Gentry’s up-tempo offense. Blessed with amazing physical traits and elite-level athleticism, it’s likely he will continue to improve and quickly take over as the best player in the NBA once King James slows down.
Photo: USA Today Sports