LeBron James Suggests Pelicans Behind Anthony Davis Smear Campaign

LeBron James thinks Anthony Davis is being done dirty in the media -- and he seems to be pointing the finger at the people who run the New Orleans Pelicans.

Bron had Davis as a guest on his HBO series, "The Shop" -- where the guys, along with stars like Antonio Brown, discussed real issues in their lives.

The topic turned to "public relations" when Antonio suggested Steelers ownership -- or at least, powerful members of the organization -- were trying to wrongly paint him as a "distraction" in the media over the past few weeks.

"That's the narrative they try to create once you doing your own thing," Brown said on the show ... "It's like, this guy's a distraction. He's this type of guy. All I've ever been is a guy who came from Central Michigan, 6th round, who worked his ass off."

LeBron made a comment essentially agreeing with Brown's opinion -- and then compared AB's situation to Anthony Davis.

Remember, Davis publicly requested a trade in January -- and since he and Bron share the same agent -- a lot of people thought they had teamed up to force the Pelicans to move AD to the Lakers.

During the negotiations, there were negative stories that came out about Davis -- and LeBron sure seems to be suggesting the hit pieces were orchestrated by the Pelicans.

"7 years in the league, nobody's ever said anything negative about AD but you can tell when the narrative changed when you don't do what they want you to do."

Davis is now playing out the season with the Pelicans -- and is hoping to be traded at the end of the season.