Gentry: LeBron's comments were tampering, Pelicans won't trade Davis

As luck would have it, the New Orleans Pelicans are in Los Angeles to play the Lakers on Friday in the wake of LeBron James' comments about the prospect of playing with Anthony Davis. And for his part, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry believes James is guilty of tampering.

"Yes, it is (tampering)," Gentry said, according to the L.A. Times' Tania Ganguli. "Why would it not be?"

The drama began Tuesday when James was asked about the possibility of the Lakers trading for Davis. "That would be amazing, like, duh," he replied.

Smaller-market teams were reportedly incensed that the NBA didn't punish James for tampering, although the league said it examines each situation on a case-by-case basis.

"No, it's BS. It's tampering," Gentry replied when told the NBA didn't consider LeBron's comments to be against the rules. "Ok, it's tampering. So should we start having AD say, 'Why don't we trade for LeBron?'"

Gentry also insisted the Pelicans won't trade Davis "under any circumstance" before adding, "You can move on from that one."

Davis is under contract through at least next season but is eligible to sign a super-max extension with New Orleans in the coming summer. It's been heavily speculated that if Davis doesn't ink that pact, the Pelicans would put him on the trade market.