Baron Davis: The Unluckiest Man in the NBA

This guy right here. No, not the guy on the left, or on the right. The guy in the middle.

Baron Davis may have signed his career away, and lost any shot at an NBA championship. And it’s beginning to look like he notices it.

Davis came closest to being a serious contender with Golden State, and he flourished in Don Nelson’s system, putting up the best numbers of his career.

Then he was presented with what looked like the best opportunity he’d ever have to win a championship.

In very similar fashion to the Warriors, the Los Angeles Clippers also looked like they were finally turning the corner. Of course, Elton Brand then missed nearly an entire season due to injury.

Health has been a question for the majority of Baron’s career as well. But Davis and Brand had a unique opportunity, have the best teammate they’ve ever played with, and make the Clippers a contender again.

In the beginning, all parties were sold on the idea. But then something really interesting happened…

After initially telling the Clippers that for $75 million and the acquisition of Baron Davis he would stay (according to Mike Dunleavy), Elton Brand bolted to Philadelphia for $80 million. This of course happened less than a week after Davis was signed to a five-year, big money deal to play alongside him.

In an act of desperation, the Clippers dealt for Marcus Camby. Camby and Al Thornton gave Baron Davis some sort of accompaniment. But the spots four through 15 of the Clippers’ roster are a group of question marks. The players rounding out this squad are either unproven kids or over-the-hill veterans.

I can only speculate that his morale is down. But his numbers thus far are the worst he has put up since his second year in the league, including a career-low field goal percentage.

Although we can only assume that his numbers are a reflection of the awful situation he is in, Davis himself is beginning to air his frustration publicly.

Davis is now expressing his dissatisfaction with not playing in an up-tempo offense (which wildly favors his style of play), instead of being given a different half court set play every time down the court. More interestingly, he sounded as if he was expecting to play up-tempo ball for the Clippers.

This all boils down to one undeniable conclusion: Baron Davis got hosed. The teammate he was promised bailed, the game play he was promised is nonexistent, and now with his new salary he is going to be tough to move.

It’s a tough time to be Baron Davis.