Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry believes LeBron James‘ comment that it would be “amazing” to play with Anthony Davis constitutes tampering, William Guillory of The Athletic tweets. An NBA statement on Friday indicated the James’ statement did not rise to the level of tampering. Gentry vehemently disagreed. “It’s tampering,” Gentry said. “Should we have AD say, ‘Why don’t we trade for LeBron?'” Gentry went on further to say, “I thought if you talked about a player under contract, it’s tampering. That’s just me. I’ve only been in the league for 31 years, so what would I know?”
We have more from around the Southwest Division:
- Rockets All-Star guard Chris Paul has a Grade 2 hamstring strain and will be reevaluated in two weeks, according to a team press release. Paul suffered the injury against Miami on Thursday.
- The Grizzlies are hopeful that forwards Chandler Parsons and Dillon Brooks will return to action soon, David Cobb of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. Parsons hasn’t played since the third game this season due to knee and back soreness but has ramped up his workouts lately. Brooks, who has not played since November 10th due to a Grade II MCL sprain, should return before the New Year. They could boost an offense that has reached 100 points just once the past 10 games, Cobb adds.
- On that same topic, Michael Wallace of the team’s website notes that rookie forward Jaren Jackson Jr. and veteran combo guard Shelvin Mack have slumped recently. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff believes confidence is a factor for the team in general. “We can come up with schemes and tricks and all that, but on the offensive end of the floor, we’ve got to take the shots that are available to us,” he said. “We’ve got to believe the shots are going in. Guys are working their tails off, taking their reps. We’ve got to get them those shots, and when they get them, they’ve got to take them and knock them down.”
- Mavericks guard Dennis Smith Jr. probably won’t play again until after Christmas, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports. Smith has missed six of the last seven games due to a wrist injury. He’s unlikely to return until after the team’s road trip, which concludes Sunday. Their next home game is Wednesday against the Pelicans.
- Davis’ decision whether to sign a Designated Veteran extension with the Pelicans looms as one of this summer’s biggest stories, as Danny Leroux of The Athletic notes. Davis has no financial incentive to wait until potential free agency the following summer, so if he doesn’t sign it, that probably means he wants out of New Orleans, as Leroux details.
They should reprimand LBJ. He gets away with way too much. I hate that he went to LA.
It was actually Pelinka who tampered in the George case, but Magic said he would pay the fine. He payed one of his own in February. The NBA told him to shut up after going on Jimmy Kimmel. He can pay one for LeBron. LeBron is union vice president and knows he can get away with tampering.
Alvin Gentry says he’s only been in the league 31 years, so what does he know? Well 31 years obviously didnt teach him much, because if he read the rules around tampering, he’d know what LBJ did, simply isn’t.
Being old doesn’t make you right, especially when you dont know something that’s in black and white.
Pretty simple, not surprising Gentry doesn’t get it. It’s only members of a teams decision making core that cannot speak about players under contract. LeBron doesn’t sign anyone’s paycheck, nor is he a member of the front office whose job it is to acquire players. Pelicans are just in jealous boyfriend mode as they know AD is gone.
I do think AD’s decision IS the most important one of this summer. Who cares where KD, Klay, Kyrie, Kawhi & co sign? AD staying or his trade that is what can change the balance of power in the league. AD is the most dominant player in the league for the last 4-5 years.
Gentry is wrong, and his reaction smells of being scared that AD will be out the door in the next 3-18 months.
How is a player saying it would be amazing to play with another tampering? If that player said “it would be amazing to play with him, so I am asking our front office to go get him”, then I would see Gentry’s point. As much as I hate LeBron, I am going to defend him here. If it had been pretty much any other player than him to make the comment, this would likely not be a story.
I guess if Gentry and other owners believe Lebron’s AD comment was tampering, then we should more tampering claim in the next couple days. Especially after Lebron’s Pelicans post game interview when he listing a bunch of players and said he would love to play with them.
“I’ve only been in the league for 31 years, what do I know?” Is the sort of thing old people say when they have lost touch and the world is passing them by.