In an interview with Shams Charania of Stadium, Los Angeles Lakers big man Anthony Davis revealed that small forward LeBron James told him he was “scared as sh*t” to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer of 2010.
James left his hometown Cavs to sign with the Miami Heat, where he created the Big Three with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Cavs fans burned James' jersey and owner Dan Gilbert wrote a letter bashing LeBron. Like James, Davis got a lot of backlash for leaving the New Orleans Pelicans, although he requested a trade out of New Orleans.
“I asked him. I said, ‘When you went to Miami, first off, how were you when you left Cleveland? Obviously, you left free-willingly. I had to ask for a trade. But what was your emotions?' He was like, ‘I was scared. I was scared as sh*t.' And that was the same thing with me, because I’d been so accustomed to being in New Orleans, and I loved that city,” Davis said, via Dan Feldman of NBC Sports.
“I loved the city of New Orleans. I’ve got so many friends there that turned family. Multiple properties there. New Orleans is a part of me. And it was tough for me to walk away from that.”
After his trade request went public, Davis was booed by Pelicans fans at home. Davis averaged 23.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.4 blocks in 466 games with the Pelicans.
With LeBron and Davis leading the charge, the Lakers are legitimate title contenders. AD knows he's going to get booed when the Lakers play in New Orleans.
However, nothing will ever compare to the atmosphere James had to deal with when he first went back to Cleveland as a member of the Heat. That night was one of the most venomous arenas in sports history.
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