It was a surreal experience being at the Smoothie King Center on Wednesday night.



It was the first time Anthony Davis, arguably the greatest player in franchise history, had to face New Orleans Pelicans fans since making his formal trade request earlier in the week. The crowd was sparse, but the emotions in the building were overflowing after the toughest 10-day stretch the Crescent City has ever dealt with as a sports town.



The Saints were robbed of a chance at the Super Bowl, and the Pelicans were in the process of being robbed — once again — of one of the NBA’s top talents as they were right around the corner from entering their prime. The Pelicans ended the night with a 105-99 loss to the Denver Nuggets, but yet another home loss to a Western Conference foe was the last thing on fans’ minds.



Despite some of the signs in the building imploring Davis to stay or a few of those same fans yelling at him to go, the scene during pregame...