The player that Pelicans fans hate the most is Davis. The deeper the love she once had, the deeper the hatred she now

On July 9, Pelicans fans will never forget the summer of 2019, when Anthony Davis, who was once regarded as a city hero, left New Orleans in the cruelest way. When the six-time All-Star made a deal application publicly through agent Ritchie Paul and designated his next home as the Los Angeles Lakers, the entire Louisiana seemed to have experienced the most painful betrayal in professional sports history. Now six years later, whenever Davis's name appears on the score screen of the Pelicans' home Smoothie King Center, the deafening booing still swept the entire arena - this love-to-hate emotion has become one of the most lasting emotional trauma in the NBA.

Back on the 2012 draft night, when the Pelicans selected the thin teenager from the University of Kentucky with the No. 1 pick, New Orleans were looking for redemption from the haze of Chris Paul's runaway. Davis quickly conquered fans with his terrifying defensive coverage and increasingly sophisticated offensive skills. In the 2014-15 season, he led the team back to the playoffs and averaged 31.5 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks in the first round of the series swept the Trail Blazers. At that time, fans held the slogan "AD is the future" and the clamor of "M-V-P" echoed in the arena. The team even created a marketing plan for him, deeply binding his iconic one-line eyebrows to the city culture. The

twist occurred on Media Day after the 2017 All-Star Weekend. When the reporter asked about the possibility of staying in the team for a long time, Davis suddenly said: "I want to win the championship, whether it is here or elsewhere." This seemingly ordinary declaration was like an alarm in the management's ears. In the following two seasons, the Pelicans have been swaying between "reinforcing" and "rebuilding and badly". After the outdated Trail Blazers in the second round of the 2018 playoffs, the management let go of key substitute Rajon Rondo. This decision was directly pointed out by the local media "Picayun Times" as "the last straw that broke the trust".

On January 28, 2019, Sports Illustrated reporter Shams Charania revealed that Davis officially submitted a deal application, which even more angered the fans were the details disclosed in the follow-up: his refusal to renew his contract with any non-Lakes team, causing the Pelicans to fall into a passive position in the trade negotiations. At that time, the team general manager Dale Demps said bluntly in an internal meeting: "It's like being fleeing his marriage on the eve of his wedding and taking away all the betrothal gifts." Fan organization "Pelicans" burned Davis's jersey outside the home court and received millions of views, while the player himself was photographed having dinner with LeBron James in Los Angeles. This contrast completely ignited the anger of the fans.

After the trade was settled, Davis said at the press conference of the Lakers' debut: "I will always love New Orleans, but professional players need to pursue the highest honor." This sentence seems particularly ironic to the Pelicans fans - after winning the 2020 Bubble Park Championship, Davis shouted in the locker room "They said I will never win!" It was interpreted as a public mockery of his old club. What's more subtle is that when the Lakers were eliminated in the first round of 2022, the local radio host of New Orleans immediately produced a special "Karma", counting the 17 injuries Davis suffered after leaving the team.

In sharp contrast to this is the treatment of Zion Williamson. Although the new No. 1 pick has also experienced injuries, his fighting spirit when leading the team in the 2023 playoffs has won tolerance. Senior team reporter Christian Clark pointed out the key difference: "Zion at least lets fans see that he cares about this team, and AD is not willing to stay on the bench for the last six months. "This contrast of emotional memories has made Davis' image continue to deteriorate in the hearts of fans. The

The era of social media amplifies this opposition. Whenever Davis is on the quarantine due to injury, the Pelicans fan topic #City of Glass will rush up the trend; when he performs well, the #Infidelity tag will be repeatedly used. In December 2023, the Lakers played away against the Pelicans, Davis scored 35 points and 17 rebounds, but after the game, he caused another stir because of the remarks that "the boos here are bigger than the cheers of winning the championship". Fans forum Pelican Debrief launched a vote, and 87% of participants named Davis as the "most disappointing player in team history" and even surpassed Barron Davis, who asked for a deal in 2005.

From the perspective of sports psychology, this construction of collective memory is full of drama. Tulane University research shows that 73% of Pelicans fans' negative comments about Davis were related to "loyalty" and only 27% involved basketball performance. This is highly similar to the Cleveland response after LeBron James' decision in 2010, confirming the "modern sports emotional investment" theory proposed by sociologist Arjun Appadurai - when fans deeply bind urban identity to stars, separation will inevitably be accompanied by a violent withdrawal reaction.

Now the Pelicans are building a new roster with Zion, Ingram and McCollum as the core, and Davis is still chasing his second ring with the Lakers. But every time the two teams confront each other, the shaking booing of the Smoothie King Center reminds people: in the theater where emotions and interests are intertwined, some scars will never truly heal. As John Kennedy Tourer, a famous New Orleans writer, wrote in "The Idiot League": "Betrayal is not a momentary action, but a persistent state." For Pelicans fans, the name Anthony Davis will always be closely linked to this state.