If confidence was all it took to win NBA titles, Anthony Davis and the Pelicans would already be champions.

The New Orleans center has been talking the talk as of late, and he has shown zero signs of being unable to walk the walk, having played twice this season.

Before the start of the 2018-2019 campaign, Davis proclaimed he's the NBA's best player, ahead of the Hardens, the Lebrons, the Currys and the Durants. And, in a recent interview with ESPN, the 6-10 big man said he will be the Pelicans' Russell Westbrook if they need him to be.

via lasueur.com

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Davis was referring to the moment during the 2014-2015 season when Westbrook had to carry the Thunder after an injury limited Kevin Durant to just 27 games. The guard averaged 28.1 points, 8.6 assists and 7.3 rebounds per contest to lead OKC to within a game of making it to the playoffs.

The Pelicans star went through something similar last season after DeMarcus Cousins tore his Achilles tendon. And, although head coach Alvin Gentry told him he didn't have to take up the scoring burden, he wasn't on board with the idea.

"I heard what Coach was saying to me, I know what he was trying to do," Davis explained. "But that's not what I wanted. I wanted to be great and I had to accept the challenge. From that day forward, I had to understand that if I wanted to be great that I had to do it. I had to be great every night.

"I saw what Russ Westbrook did when [Kevin] Durant went down with that foot injury in OKC. And that's what I told Coach Gentry I have to be. If I have to be Westbrook, I will be Westbrook."

via nba.com

Davis, who has averaged 28.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in his two games for the Pelicans so far this term, is looking to be mentioned in any conversation where current NBA greats are concerned.

"When you look at LeBron, every year you know he's going to be great and his team is going to have a chance to win the title," he added. "From here on out, I want to be in that conversation every year. Not every other year. Not every few years. Every year. If that's going to happen, we're going to have to win, and I'm going to have to be the most dominant player.

"I want to be the best player. I want to be in the playoffs. I want them to be talking about me as an MVP candidate," Davis said. "I don't want there to be any questions anymore about AD."

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