On Tuesday, Anthony Davis made a return trip to New Orleans, the place where he led Kentucky to a national title and the place he’ll almost certainly be playing his professional basketball. The Hornets brought the national player of the year to the Big Easy for a visit that seemed more like orientation than the customary evaluation prospective draft picks are subjected to. He met members of the coaching staff and front office he was not yet familiar with, toured the facilities and didn’t even conduct a workout. The Hornets can’t yet say they’re drafting Davis, but it’s no stretch to say that’s exactly what they’ll do. Look no further than this video of Davis’ time with the local media from the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Davis is decked out in Hornets’ gear and saying all the right things, but that is a young man that knows he is touring a place he’ll soon call home, even saying he has no visits scheduled with other teams. The Hornets, though, seemed to try to make up for the lack future visits by breaking out all the stops for Davis. The Times-Picayune has the story on the Hornets “rolling out the red carpet.”
Davis was treated like visiting royalty during his 36-hour visit.The Hornets put him up in the plush Harrah’s Casino Hotel. He ate dinner Monday night with Coach Monty Willliams at the exclusive chef’s table at Emeril’s, the same table Saints’ executives shared with Reggie Bush after the 2006 NFL draft.After a tour of the Hornets’ training facility and some press obligations at the Alario Center, Davis had lunch with Benson and Saints’ executives at the Saints’ headquarters in Metairie, toured the facility with General Manager Mickey Loomis, spoke to a youth camp on the indoor practice field and left with a bag of souvenir Saints hats in his preternaturally large-sized mitts.A tour of the city with Demps preceded dinner with members of the Hornets’ basketball operations staff. He ended the night by watching Game 4 of the NBA Finals with Mark Ingram and some Saints teammates.
In just eight days, Davis will be officially tabbed as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, but he won’t be subjected to nearly the same amount of suspense as his five UK teammates also hoping to hear their names called as early in the night as possible.
