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Benching Davis in crucial game set his departure in motion
By David Zizmor July 2, 2008 |
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OAKLAND--With all this talk about former Warrior Baron Davis leaving to "go home" to Los Angeles it's just a nice way for Davis to leave Golden State. You might remember his "non performance" evaluated by Warrior head coach Don Nelson in the Warriors bid for a post season spot in the April 14th game that eventually Golden State lost to the Phoenix Suns eliminating the team from contention. It was at the U.S. Airways Center in Glendale where the Warriors were later eliminated from the Western Conference playoffs and the Suns were doing damage to the Warriors defense. The Warriors were getting no where fast in a game that they needed to even smell the Denver Nuggets who were on the verge of closing the gap for an eighth spot in the NBA Western Conference playoffs seed. The Warriors Baron Davis, the poster boy, the front cover of what the past Warriors seasons were all about, sat on the bench after playing only 16 minutes in that crucial game that would help decide the Warriors forward ability to catch Denver after one half of play . The cameras zoomed in on Davis much during that unforgettable second half and Davis looked no pleased to say the least. The whole crux of the battle of this game was while Davis looked weak on his shooting after going 2-13, Nelson made the huge mistake of benching Davis for the second half and showing no confidence in Davis for the rest of the contest. This was not a second guess at Nelson who had a strong second half in coaching the Warriors to near success of catching the Nuggets but fell short in the closing days as Denver took over and later clinched for the eighth spot. This issue here was when you’re in the chase of getting a playoff birth of any kind especially when the regular season is winding down you don't go and bench your star player. This had been commented on many times and duly noted by fans and the media. However trying to explain the Davis departure and why he would walk away from $17.8 million had nothing to do with any offer that the Clippers had for him. It again was over looked in many of the reports and talk shows explaining why Davis would walk away from a $17.8 million deal sitting on the Warriors table for him. Why he in just days after assuring Nelson that he would take the offer and come back and play at Golden State for the 08-09 campaign? The two were supposed to meet in Maui where Nelson lives and play a few rounds of golf and talk a little shop and that Davis assured Nellie he would sign the deal and get it done and then later Nelson was taken aback on Monday when hearing the news that Davis had backed off signing for another year after Nelson was sure Davis was coming back. What Nelson and everyone else failed to notice the biggest and most obvious reason why Baron Davis left Golden State was because he was embarrassed, showed up, and put down on April 14 in Phoenix when he was benched as a healthy scratch by his coach. Davis is the team leader, and there is nothing more embarrassing then to be benched in one of the most critical games of the season despite going 2-13 and 16 points in the first half of that game, you have to rely on your key player to perform for you in the second half of that game. Nelson demonstrated that he did not have the confidence in Baron Davis and therefore benched him for the rest of the ball game. Davis looked humiliated which showed in many of the stills that were shot at that game and upon later examination the body language and the facial expressions showed it all and you had to ask, "how can this man go on playing for a coach who showed no confidence in him in a crucial game like that?” The Warriors went onto lose that crucial game, but most importantly Davis took his hurt feelings and buried them deep just like the 2007-08 season that was in his rear view mirror and in the back of his mind Davis knew he wanted nothing to do with Golden State and Don Nelson anymore after that. Davis who is a vast and huge admirer of Senator Barack Obama took a page out of the Senator's political book and applied it to this basketball situation and played this card right and waited until it was time to make a decision as to not embarrass the Warriors organization, coach Nelson, or to not say anything that would appear to show any hurt feelings from that fateful April 14th evening in Phoenix. So it's not about "going home" to Los Angeles and playing at Staples for the Clippers or it's not about a better deal or an offer that's too hard to refuse in L.A. or working closer to Hollywood to do more film studio work. It's about being bench by a coach who in certain moments of rage makes drastic decisions that will later hurt his club. The money was right in Golden State at $17.8 million, but if you know anything about Baron Davis he's a principled man, an intelligent man and Davis buried his feelings deep and left with the same class he came to Golden State with and no one is the wiser of it. But you know it now and heard it here first Davis left because of a lousy decision to be benched in a critical game last spring that the Warriors needed in which they needed Davis too in that game. David Zizmor does Warriors commentary and analysis on Warriors basketball for Sportstalk Radio. |
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