The N.B.A. said Monday that it required the New Orleans Pelicans to play Anthony Davis, their disgruntled All-Star, after he was not traded before last week’s trade deadline because of “league rules governing competitive integrity.”

The Pelicans initially planned to sit Davis for the rest of the season once they responded to his request to be traded by deciding to keep him beyond Thursday’s deadline, according to two people familiar with New Orleans’ stance who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

But the league office said it intervened because of its rules about resting healthy players, which are in place largely to prevent teams from weakening their rosters intentionally to incur losses that could improve their draft position in June. The practice is known as “tanking.”

The Pelicans maintain that they were trying to protect Davis from a serious injury during the final 28 regular-season games before the off-season, when they do intend to trade him after they field offers from a wider base of teams than those who made competitive offers last week, according to the people.