Friday 26 July 2019 09:47, UK
Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has described Anthony Davis' forced exit from the New Orleans Pelicans as "disturbing" for the NBA.
Davis demanded a trade out of New Orleans with more than a year remaining on his contract, and although the Pelicans did not immediately cave to his in-season request, this offseason Davis got his wish when he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kerr explained that his issue is specifically with Davis' approach, while still under contract, as opposed to stars, such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant, who have played out their contracts first before switching teams.
"I'm talking more about the Anthony Davis situation," Kerr said on The Warrior Podcast. "Where a guy is perfectly healthy and has a couple years left on his deal and says, 'I want to leave.' That's a real problem that the league has to address and that the players have to be careful with.
"When you sign on that dotted line, you owe your effort and your play to that team, to that city, to the fans. And then it's completely your right to leave as a free agent. But if you sign the contract, then you should be bound to that contract.
"What LeBron did, played out his contract. What Kevin did, both when he arrived at Golden State and when he left. You sign contracts, you play them out and you move on. That's how it should be done.
"But it's a little disturbing that there has been some action that happens before contracts are up, where teams are sort of held hostage and the league is sort of held hostage. I'm not a big fan of that. That's damaging for everybody."
Earlier in July, NBA commissioner Adam Silver publicly commented in his annual summer league news conference in Las Vegas about the manner in which many free-agent deals seem to be happening.
"My job is to enforce a fair set of rules for all our teams and a set of rules that are clear and make sense for everyone," Silver said. "I think right now we're not quite there."
