From Lisa Dillman at the Los Angeles Times:
Warriors swingman Stephen Jackson spent some quality time with Davis, his buddy and former teammate, over the weekend in Los Angeles, bonding and talking about old times.
Jackson said that Davis wants to return to the Warriors.
“That’s all we talked about. . . . He wants to come back. And if he wants to come back, I want him back,” Jackson told the Contra Costa Times.
Davis denied that he is ready to bail off the listing 8-21 Clippers ship.
“No, I don’t want out,” he told The Times on Monday at practice. “I don’t know what Stephen Jackson got from my conversation. That never came out of my mouth.
“I’m here. I’m here doing the same thing I did at Golden State. The first year I got to Golden State it was rough. It was a tough season. We were figuring each other out, figuring out the system. That transition year is always a tough year.”
He did confirm some elements of Jackson’s account.
“We talked about how I miss playing with him. When you see people, you miss what you had,” Davis said. “Obviously, in no way shape or form am I ready to jump ship.
“That’s not why I came here. That’s not why I committed to come here. I’m committed here to turn this thing around. I like the talent on this team, I like the promise.
“The team is going to get better. My job is to continue to get better and make this year as positive and productive as we possibly can.”
Clippers General Manager and Coach Mike Dunleavy was asked whether Davis had asked to be traded. The relationship between Dunleavy and Davis often has been uneasy.
“I haven’t had any of those kind of conversations with Baron,” Dunleavy said.
Dunleavy said he did not plan to speak to Davis about Jackson’s comments.
“You read about guys saying stuff all over the place and you never know what’s true and not true, and how it’s perceived or not perceived,” Dunleavy said. “From our standpoint, he’s our player and we’re trying to make the best of our situation.”
The truth probably lies somewhere in between: Baron Davis clearly isn’t all that happy as the Clippers starting PG. He’s also savvy enough to realize that he’s here to stay and that there are enough attractive personal diversions, be they business opportunities or proximity to family, to keep him comparatively satisfied as a human being.
10 Responses
If BD stops shooting 3′s I’ll be happy.
Posted on December 30th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Grant him the wish. Send him home to GSW to play with his soul-mates. Ask GSW for Azubuike & injured Monta Ellis.
Posted on December 30th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
At some point, we are going to have to address the underlying problem, which is MDSr, not BD. MDSr signed the guy, describing him as an elite point guard. BD has talent, but like most needs to be in a situation that he perceives as beneficial for him and the team. This is a players’ league. MDSr is responsible for motivating the players and putting together a competitive team. If he can’t do that, he’s got to go (unless of course his boss is Sterling who stupidly overpaid MDSr and won’t throw that money away).
Posted on December 30th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
I’ve been reading the comments on the other blog posts and…
WHAT’S UP WITH ALL THE MAUDRY COLLINS LOVE???
What is everyone smoking, because if what you’re smoking makes Maurdy Collins a premiere defensive player…please pass that stuff over here, because I’m going to need something strong to help me cope with this pain…
I’m reading about trading the whole entire team and keeping Camby, Collins, and Gordon? Wow…
With that starting lineup, we’ll have a guy who rebounds more than he shoots (Camby), a guy who shoots more than he rebounds (Gordon), and someone who DOESN’T KNOW HOW TO PLAY THE GAME OF BASKETBALL (Collins).
Let’s bring back…Terry Dehere, Po’ Richardson, Harold Ellis, Loy Vaught, and Stanley Roberts!!! Will that make everyone happy?
ian Reply:
December 30th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I like Mardy, despite his limitations. I wasn’t saying that he’s the ideal player for this team, just that he’s a winner — and we need more winners! He passes well, plays D (although, i’ll concede your point…he’s overrated as a defender) & works to fit into any system and win games. I, however, LOVE EJ. He’s got a stroke, passes well, is explosive, doesn’t turn it over much & AND ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT DEFENSE (he’s our fucking perimeter defensive stopper right now…(which is completely ridculous)). In addition, he actually seems to be a good kid. I think he’s a winner because he fits into any system and does the things that you need to do to win championships: have an efficient offensive game & play good defense. He obviously has the potential to be a dynamite offensive player (#2 option on a good team), but seems like he’ll make a well rounded winner.
Posted on December 30th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Clippers are a deeply wounded team. But it was an accident by self-infliction.
1. Dunleavy thought by keeping Brand & signing Baron would make his team an
instant force in the west.
2. Then he thought.. by letting Maggette go would open room for Al Thornton.
(And it did but Maggette’s shoes are larger to fill)
3. Something went wrong somewhere. Maggette wasn’t sure about Brand’s motives. Maggette thought Both Brand & Dunleavy don’t expect him to stay. Maggette left because Dunleavy convinced Sterling about the positive changes without Maggette.(That change will never come under Dunleavy)
4. We can now criticize them but let’s admit the truth. Both Brand & Maggette were back-bones of this team for several seasons. (right now we have couple of tail bones)It’s hard to match their work ethic & character. Dunleavy mislead Sterling about Maggette & Brand.
5. In the midst of all these, Baron was happy to get out of Oakland. He didn’t think thru anything.
OMG. 4 lives. Shattered across 3 cities. Maggs is not happy in Oakland. Brand feels discarded by his new team. Baron feels unwanted in LA. Dunleavy looks DUMB as ever.
This one has HOLLYWOOD story written all over it.
Posted on December 30th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I like Mardy Collins, despite his limitations. I wasn’t saying that he’s the ideal player for this team, just that he’s a winner — and we need more winners! He passes well, plays D (although, i’ll concede your point…he’s overrated as a defender) & works to fit into any system and win games. I, however, LOVE EJ. He’s got a stroke, passes well, is explosive, doesn’t turn it over much & AND ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT DEFENSE (he’s our fucking perimeter defensive stopper right now…(which is completely ridculous)). In addition, he actually seems to be a good kid. I think he’s a winner because he fits into any system and does the things that you need to do to win championships: have an efficient offensive game & play good defense. He obviously has the potential to be a dynamite offensive player (#2 option on a good team), but seems like he’ll make a well rounded winner.
Posted on December 30th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
If Mardy Collins throws another layup off the backboard with enough force to shatter it, I’m going to make a petition to bring back Q-Ross, Drobjnak, and Brunson. Seriously, where the hell do we find these guys?
Posted on December 30th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
This team has had success one year in the last, I don’t know, twenty?
That success can be summed up in two words, “Sam Cassell.”
You can talk about Brand, Maggette, Mobley, Livingston, etc. all you want, but when it came down to winning games, not just getting good statistics, Cassell’s stock and trade his whole career was winning games. Teams he played for won in Houston, Milwaukee, Minnesota, and yes even in Los Angeles playing for the Clippers. You can take all the game winning shots from all of the players the Clippers have had over the years and add them together, and I’d be shocked if they were even close to the amount of game winners that Sam had. He’s a winner, and he had the balls to take big shots in the 4th quarter and MAKE them!
I initially thought that Baron Davis was the same type of player, that he was going to be a leader and a game winning player for the Clips, but so far, it looks like I was dead wrong. He’s turned himself into one of the worst 3 point shooters I can remember, and the more he misses, the more he seems to chuck them up. He says the Warriors had a rough time when he first arrived, but my recollection is that they started playing much better when he got there late in the season.
I sincerely hope that this situation changes and that he plays better, and the team plays better and starts winning, because I like Baron, I am a Clipper fan, and I want them to do well. But it’s getting to be like beating your head against the wall rooting for this team. It’s probably going to have to end up with Dumblooney being relieved of his coaching duties for the situation to really improve.
Posted on December 31st, 2008 at 4:22 pm
http://LosAngelesOnlinePharmacy.Com
Posted on January 15th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
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