After finding himself in a similar situation some four decades ago, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has some thoughts on Anthony Davis’ request for a trade.
In a piece by Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo! Sports that ran Sunday, the 71-year-old basketball great said he empathized with Davis’ decision to seek a move. Abdul-Jabbar did also however that he thought the New Orleans Pelicans star’s management team mishandled the request by going public with it.
“He’s in a small market and the team’s not doing very well, he’d like to go out and win something,” said the retired Basketball Hall of Famer. “He’s made a lot of money to this point and his needs are different and the clock is ticking, so I understand what he’s all about.
“I think his management people mishandled it,” Abdul-Jabbar continued. “When I was leaving Milwaukee, I let them know before the season started and I kept my mouth shut. Just to give them an opportunity to make the best deal they could behind closed doors.”
As he alluded to, the mid-1970s saw Abdul-Jabbar famously sought a trade from the small-market Milwaukee Bucks, where he had spent the first five seasons of his NBA career. The seven-footer was eventually dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1975 and went on to win five of his six title with them.
As for Davis and his team, they have faced criticism from other retired greats for their handling of the matter, and now the saga is guaranteed to last many months more with the trade deadline past and The Brow still in New Orleans.
