It’s time for the Pelicans to stop playing Anthony Davis altogether

New Orleans – Happy Mardi Gras, Pelicans fans.

The Krewe of NBA Dysfunction will be rolling through out-of-town neighborhoods for the rest of Carnival season.

First stop is Los Angeles for a rematch with LeBron James and the Lakers just five days after the Pelicans beat L.A. 128-115 while Anthony Davis sat on the pine and pined away for a trade to join James and the Lakers in the off-season.

Next stop is Phoenix for a game Friday, then comes Denver for a game on Saturday. Davis, who’s supposed to play against the Lakers this time, will sit out one of the back-to-back games because, well, that’s just what happens these days.

The trip concludes with a game at Utah on Lundi Gras before New Orleans’ current team and its long-ago former one meet in a rematch on Ash Wednesday.

Hopefully by that time, the Pelicans will have given up playing Davis altogether for Lent.

But don’t count on it.

The Pelicans appear to content to continue doing their own Mardi Gras Mambo – dancing around the bizarre circumstance that has been thrust upon them by sitting out Davis during games that appear to be fine-proof, e.g., parts of back-to-back sets, and reducing his minutes by a fine-proof amount that creates more playing time for younger players who are more likely than Davis to play for New Orleans in games beyond April 9.

It’s a ridiculous way to run a basketball team – one initiated by Davis and his agent (Rich Paul), exacerbated by the NBA and enabled by the Pelicans’ front office.

After Davis “rested” against the Lakers he returned to the starting lineup against Philadelphia on Monday night in the Smoothie King Center.

He played nearly 21 minutes and helped lead New Orleans to a 15-point deficit midway through the third quarter. Then coach Alvin Gentry pulled Davis for good, as was pre-determined, and the Pelicans fought back, closing within a point and narrowly missing a victory when E’Twaun Moore’s 3-pointer was blocked by Jimmy Butler in the final seconds.

After the game, Gentry didn’t like being asked whether the team played harder without Davis than it did with him.

“I don’t know how you answer that,” Gentry said, “and I don’t know if that’s a fair question to ask.”

It’s a fair question to ask, albeit an awkward one for him to try and answer.

Observers can decide for themselves what the answer is.

But it seems awfully difficult to deny the fact that the Pelicans play better when their best player is not playing.

Gentry himself has said the organization has determined that “minimizing” Davis’ minutes is what’s “best” for the franchise.

You know what’s the minimum number of minutes an NBA player can play?

Zero, which incidentally also describes New Orleans’ chances of making the playoffs.

That’s how many minutes Davis should be playing.

The organization’s primary responsibility is to do what’s best for the team, the organization and its customers.

The organization has by its own admission determined that the less Davis plays, the better it is for the team – and the on-court results bear that out.

Paul went public with Davis’ trade demand, incurring for his client a $50,000 fine – the maximum allowable – from the NBA.

At All-Star weekend earlier this month, NBA commissioner Adam Silver explained the fine-worthy danger of a public trade demand: “It creates, understandably, a very awkward position between the team and their player and what their role is with the league in terms of injecting itself in the middle of what (is) a team’s decision on playing that player.”

The NBA already has disciplined Davis the maximum amount allowable for a public trade demand and its inherent impact on the Pelicans and the league.

New Orleans should have every right to follow the league’s precedent and discipline Davis by benching him, which the organization already has said is best for the team.

The NBA might not like it, but it set the precedent.

The players association will file a grievance, but that’s what players associations tend to do in situations like this.

There shouldn’t be a fine to pay, but if there is one, the Pelicans should be prepared to pay it.

Everyone else is looking out for their own self-interest.

It’s time the Pelicans did the same.