Pelicans' Anthony Davis knows it's all on him

But this time, there was too much push on the shot and it clanked off the side of the rim farthest from him. His night was much of the same, with two right elbow sprains.

For most players, a stat line of 17 points, 12 rebounds, seven badists and a block is a career evening. But for Davis, who was 6-of-16 from the field in a 10-point loss to the defending fields, it was only a question of how much he had to cope with immense pressure.

"Of course, I know that in order to win games, a lot of pressure is going to be on me," Davis told Yahoo Sports while sitting at his locker stall Wednesday night. "If we lose, it's on me. If we win, they give my team the credit and I'm fine with that.

"A perfect example [was against the Warriors]. I do not have a good game and we lose. So, I got to play almost perfect every night to give us a chance to win. But my teammates do a great job. Even the games I did not play, those guys have been battling in and out for victories. … I do not try to put it on myself, but I know it's there. "

The versatile 6-foot-11 star leads his team in points (25.2), rebounds (13), steals (two), blocks (3.2) and minutes (37). After starting the season 4-0, New Orleans has dropped its last four, and Davis was sidelined for three of those, missing Thursday night's 132-119 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Jrue Holiday, Julius Randle, and Nikola Mirotic, the Pelicans will take the lead.

"Life is not fair," Davis told Yahoo Sports with a smirk. "We can not control what happens in the league. I just go out there and play. It's nothing I can do. It is what it is at this point. I just got to go out there and trust my teammates, which I do. Those guys are great players, good defenders, good role players. They can not help me too much. "

But most of all, Davis just wants to win.

That's why rival NBA executives are of the belief that it could be up for grabs for a large market in 2020. He is eligible for a super-max extension with the Pelicans in July 2019 that is worth $ 235 million for five years.

If Davis were to pbad on such a mbadive deal, as some executives believe he could, the franchise would be forced to contemplate trading its cornerstone. Nevertheless, Davis said he will concern himself with contractual matters in the summer.

"I really do not listen to [the noise] to be honest, "he told Yahoo Sports. "I hear it from everywhere from social media, to people around you. But my biggest thing is focusing on playing basketball. That's all I can do. I can not do anything but play basketball to the best of my ability to help my team. … We have one goal and that's winning a championship, and my job is to help you reach that goal. "

Furthermore, he contends that his pending is not a distraction in the locker room.

"Nah, my team does not care. They cherish the times that they have with me, "he told Yahoo Sports. "Every day we try to get a great team. They hear it, I hear it. Everybody hears it. It's hard not to. But we're focused on what we have to do this year. We're trying to beat teams like the Warriors and get to where they are. That's our goal. That's it. "

The speculation is not expected to cool down, with Davis recently hiring Rich Paul of Klutch Sports – the same agent who reps LeBron James – to represent him. In the summer, the Lakers will be extremely aggressive in their pursuit of high-caliber stars in the free-agent and trade markets.

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