Once the New Orleans Hornets won the 2012 NBA Draft lottery on Wednesday night, the consensus was that the Hornets will select Anthony Davis out of Kentucky with the number one overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
After learning that his career in the NBA will most likely begin in the Big Easy with the Hornets, Davis was asked to appear on “The Dan Patrick Show” to talk about the future.
Davis had some interesting things to say on Thursday when asked about which player in the league he was looking forward to playing against next season. Apparently, the projected number one overall pick can’t wait to take on Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers via Katie Fowler of CSNChicago.com:
“He’s a monster. So I just want to go out there and play my hardest. There’s a lot of guys that can’t stop Kobe,” said Anthony. “So if I stop him I could be one of the guys that say ‘I shut Kobe down’.”
Dan Patrick warned Anthony that Kobe listens to the show and that he has a great memory.
“Tell him I’ll be waiting,” replied a laughing Anthony.
Obviously, Davis has a lot of respect for Kobe and believes the five-time NBA champion may bring out the best in him in his rookie season with the Hornets. Despite the brave statements by the young forward, it might have some severe consequences with Kobe going to work on the rookie next year.
Any player that has claimed to be a “Kobe stopper” or claimed to be able to shut Kobe down has usually regretted making these comments in the media. Davis might be the next on the list to regret calling out one of the greatest NBA players of all-time.
It’ll be interesting to see if Davis is selected to the final 12-man roster for Team USA. If so, the rookie will have his chance to show what he’s got against Kobe in practice leading up to the 2012 Olympics in London, England.