Anthony Davis (likely) played his last game for the Pelicans on Tuesday night, and he walked into the arena wearing a shirt that read, "That's All Folks."
Anthony Davis just showed up to the Smoothie King Center in a “That’s all Folks!” t-shirt.
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) April 9, 2019
This is gonna be a fun night, guys. pic.twitter.com/vvJCsc4IIV
The phrase is an obvious homage to Porky the Pig, who says it at the end of every "Looney Tunes" show. It also was an apparent message right before what should be his final game with the Pelicans. He has a player option ahead of the 2020 season, though he has told New Orleans he has no intentions of staying, despite being eligible for a supermax extension.
The shirt garnered a lot of attention, and with it: criticism.
"I just don't want him to continue to take it too far. With the 'That's All Folks' T-Shirts, like in-your-face. Because I don't want him to create a level of disdain from the fans that he's given so many reasons to like, love and cheer for him a reason to not like him on the way out of the door," former NBA player Jalen Rose said of the shirt on ESPN.
The Pelicans even tweeted Davis wearing it on their Twitter account before deleting it after realizing what it said. The message seemed very intentional, and there's no way it was a mistake, right? Well, if you believe Davis himself, then no.
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Davis, who didn't meet with the media on Tuesday, spoke with reporters Wednesday and claimed ignorance on the shirt.
"I didn't choose it. I actually didn't choose it. It was hanging for me already when I put my clothes on," Davis said. "Every night, Big Shot lays out what I'm going to wear in the game. I have no control over that. I just put it on."
Anthony Davis says he has no control over his clothes. Someone lays clothes out for every game & he just puts them on. #pelicans pic.twitter.com/FtXnhBVY8b
— Julie Boudwin (@Julie_Boudwin) April 10, 2019
So just to reiterate: Davis, a 26-year-old grown man, blindly puts on clothes that are put out in front of him every night. His process for wearing clothes is essentially Ron Burgundy's process for reading the teleprompter. It doesn't matter what you put there — he's going to just follow along.
For some reason, I'm just not buying this excuse.
Look, if you're going to wear a shirt like that, then at least own up to it. Wearing it and then saying you had no idea just makes people lose respect for you.
If you claim it, then some people may disagree with your decision, but others might think it's funny. And if he's telling the truth, then he should really look at what he's about to wear beforehand. That's putting way too much trust in the person selecting your outfits.
