Alvin Gentry Was Furious Anthony Davis ‘Never Gets A Call’ After A Loss To Houston


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Alvin Gentry praised Houston’s James Harden on Saturday afternoon and picked the point guard over his team’s superstar, Anthony Davis, to win NBA MVP. But after the Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans played on Saturday night, Gentry was left wishing Davis got treated by officials more like other NBA stars.

Gentry was livid with officiating following Houston’s 107-101 win over the Pelicans. Davis scored 26 points and had 13 rebounds on the night, but the Pelicans coach felt Houston’s rough handling of his star forward wasn’t rewarded with whistles and trips to the line for Davis.

Gentry didn’t hold back when he spoke to the media on Saturday night, freely admitting that his words would catch him a fine but stressing that he finally needed to speak out about the double standard he feels his star gets from officials.
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“We try to play the right way and we play our ass off and what happened to us is that AD never gets a call,” Gentry said. “He never gets a call.”

Gentry then went on to describe all the places he feels fouls are hiding from officials, and why he feels the fouls are not called. In short, he says Davis is too polite to draw any attention to it.

“We talk about them holding him. We talk about them grabbing him on rolls. We talk about them coming under him on post ups. He never gets a call. Not one. And you know why? Because he doesn’t bitch and complain about it. He just keeps playing the game.”

It’s a calculated wager coaches make when they speak out like this because a reaction always comes. Monetarily, for one, but also the hope is that officials do reconsider the way they call a Pelicans game. With the team fighting for a playoff spot, Gentry seems to think it’s a good time to pay for that kind of attention.


“It’s not right. It’s not right,” he said later. “Because you know what? We’re battling our ass off for a playoff spot. And all we want is to have the game called the right way. And I’ll take the damn fine that they’re gonna give me tomorrow, that’s fine.”

Gentry was extremely complimentary of Harden and the Rockets on Saturday night. His beef was not with them. Rather, he insisted that officials needed to call the game “both ways.”

It’s refreshing to see Gentry defend his player to that extent, especially when he’s doing it in a way that isn’t taking credit away from the team that just beat them. The Pelicans coach may think that Harden is the league’s MVP, but that doesn’t mean he’s happy with what he perceives as different treatment for a player like Harden compared to the All-Star on his roster.

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