Anthony Davis said he wants to be mentioned with NBA greats such as Bill Russell.

"When you mention basketball or NBA and you talk about greatest players, I definitely want to be in that conversation," Davis said. "You mention Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, all those guys. I want to be in that conversation."

Davis scored 35 points in the New Orleans Pelicans' loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 on Saturday.

"I'm more focused on Golden State, what they're trying to do to stop us and what we're trying to do to stop them," Davis said. "But you do think about Bill Russell and what he did here, what he did for the league. He led the way for guys like us today.

"I went in the Bill Russell Room, and me and (a Pelicans media relations official) were saying (as they looked at the picture) that he looks so much younger. He and I were in the same predicament. It's just cool when you see something like that."