Now that Baron Davis has emigrated from New Orleans to Oakland, he feels like a new player and a new person.
“To have a new beginning, a fresh start, it is like having a new chance at life,” Davis said in the Garden road locker room before playing his fifth game for Golden State last night.
The Hornets reportedly felt Davis – with his big money contract – was in no hurry to comeback from injuries, no matter how big or small they were.
“When you are in a situation where a lot of things are against you, it is hard to succeed,” Davis said. “It is hard to prosper and do your best. I think more mentally than it is physically.”
So far, though he is not 100 percent yet, he has shown flashes of his All-Star skills. In his debut for Golden State, Davis came off the bench for 10 points, eight assists and three standing ovations. In his first four games with the Warriors, Davis averaged 10 points and 7.5 assists.
Davis, who starred at UCLA, returned to California billed as a star.
Davis knows a thing or two about stars. When he attended Crossroads High School in Santa Monica, one of his friends was actress Kate Hudson. Davis is a movie producer with Too Easy Entertainment. He is currently working on a basketball movie called “Blacktop.” He also has appeared in a P. Diddy music video.
Plus, realizing that stars need to be bold, Davis has predicted that the Warriors will make the playoffs next season. This is quite a prognostication, considering that Golden State entered last night at 18-40. They have a rookie coach in Mike Montgomery and they are waif-thin along the frontline.
“He has the ability to make other people better,” Montgomery said. “He can pass the ball. He is capable of averaging double-figure assists, I think.”
Davis likes playing for Montgomery as opposed to Hornets coach Byron Scott.
“He sometimes asks me what I want to run,” Davis said of Montgomery. “I like a coach that has confidence in me as a player.”
Davis, who has had variety of injuries, said he is “not very” healthy right now, but by next season he will be fine.
“We are going to win a lot of games toward the end of the season, knock some people out of playoff contention,” Davis said. “That is going to be fun.”
