The mystery of Glen Davis

44Thrilla · Apr 21, 2010

Glen Davis will say things that leave you scratching your head.

He’ll act out in ways that are beyond comprehension.

Sometimes you’ll ask him a question, and he’ll just stare at you — better yet, through you — leaving you to sit and wonder, “What in God’s name is going on in there?”

He’s a riddle, wrapped inside an enigma, contained within a McDonald’s 20-piece.

He's Manny Ramirez's distant cousin.

But for all that Davis does to arouse anger and confusion off the court — whether he’s tearing up on the sidelines, channeling Daniel LaRusso on the eve of the season opener, screaming profanities at opposing fans or changing nicknames more often than Diddy — there's one thing about him that is, and always will be, crystal clear:

The guy's a gamer.

It's a trait that’s been obvious since the very moment he stepped into the national spotlight as a 20-year-old sophomore leading LSU on college basketball's biggest stage.

It continued into his rookie year in Boston, when he was in a constant fight for playing time and only cracked 20 points once . . . but (not-so-coincidentally) did it in Boston’s biggest game of the season — a 92-85 win at Auburn Hills over the Eastern Conference-favorite Pistons.

And in last year's playoffs Davis hammered the point home, stepping in for an injured Kevin Garnett and nearly leading Boston back to the Eastern Conference Finals. He played 36 minutes a night in those playoffs, averaging 15.8 points and 5.6 rebounds along the way.

His performance was so inspiring, we all figured his stay in Boston had come to an end. We were sure some GM would swoop in and pay him the big bucks. He’d earned it. He deserved it. And make no doubt about it, Davis was right there with us. He thought his time had come. He'd shown he could flourish as an NBA starter, and was confident that the rest of his career would play out accordingly.

Of course, that wasn't the case. The lucrative offers never came, and as free agency closed out, Davis was forced to accept a lesser deal with the Celtics and return to Boston with his tail between his legs. In the meantime, the Celtics had already signed Rasheed Wallace to take his spot in the rotation.

It's the kind of situation that would have affected even the most seasoned and/or stable NBA vet, so it comes as no surprise that Davis handled it . . . not so well.

There was the easily avoidable thumb injury suffered mere days before the season opener, which landed him in the Doc Rivers' doghouse. Actually, that’s being too complimentary. Davis was stuck in that old run-down doghouse in the woods behind Doc’s house. The one he scrapped five years ago, but just hadn’t gotten around to taking to the dump.

His coach was furious. Danny Ainge felt the same. Wyc Grousbeck went on local TV and denounced the Big Baby name.

"I'm not going to call him Big Baby anymore," Grousbeck said. "He needs to act like Glen."

Less than a month after returning to the rotation, there was the incident in Detroit where Davis loudly asked a fan to perform an act that I'd get fired for describing any further. He was fined $25,000 and fell right back into that old corroded doghouse.

Less than a week later, he approached a group of reporters in the locker room to announce, unprovoked, that he’d decided to change his nickname. He was now to be known as "Uno-Uno."

Really, the world wondered. That’s what’s going through your head right now?

"Hey Doc, how do you feel about the biggest headache on your roster calling a meeting to announce his new nickname?"

"Oh Lord," Rivers said, not even faking a smile. "No comment."

But again, that was all outside the lines.

On the court, he was always the same Glen Davis.

He never stopped working.

It was apparent during even the darkest moments of the season, when there were plenty of disparaging things to be said about this Celtics team. They didn't care. They weren't trying. They had no energy. They were void of passion.

But you never could have said any of that specifically about Glen Davis.

He was the guy still killing himself on every play. Running hard. Fighting for rebounds. Taking charges. Diving for loose balls.

At times, he seemed to be looking around at his older, more accomplished teammates and asking, "What is wrong with you guys? We get to play basketball for a living! Where's your fire? Why don’t you care?"

He was the Celtics' own Rube Baker.

The opponent didn't matter. The score didn't matter. He was always building towards something bigger.

Towards something like Tuesday night.

With Kevin Garnett out of the lineup, Rivers called on Davis to make the start. The coach claimed that the decision was based solely on Davis' ability to defend the pick-and-roll, but Celtics Nation knew better. They’d seen Davis do this before. They had faith he'd do it again.

And to their delight, but not their surprise, that’s exactly what happened.

Davis had his hand in every aspect of Boston's 106-77 blowout win. He scored 23 points, grabbed eight rebounds and hit one less foul shot (nine) than the entire Heat team. Ray Allen eventually overtook him as Boston’s leading scorer, but Davis' night wasn’t about points. It was about energy. It was about setting the tone. It was about his team needing someone to step up and Davis doing all that and more. Again.

When it was all said and done, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra summed up Davis’ night best:

"That was a case of one man impacting the game simply with his effort," said Spoelstra. "I don't think they ran one play for him; I would be shocked if they had even a play in their playbook for Glen Davis.

"He does all of his work without the ball, he does it by running the floor, sprinting ahead of the crowd, ducking in on the weak side, crashing the offensive glass, putting himself in position for dishes inside the paint. He just continues to put heat on you in the paint. How do you deal with a player like that? You cannot let a man's effort exceed yours; it's as simple as that. But right now, he has, in two games, really made an impact just with his energy and his effort."

And then it was Davis' turn.

After a season filled with more turmoil and ridiculousness than an episode of Jersey Shore, Davis was called on to the stand before the entire NBA world. And he'd earned every ounce of it. He’d been through so much just to get to this point, and in his postgame press conference, he finally had a chance to reflect on that long road, and bask in the glory of all his tireless work.

So, Glen, what did you make of your performance tonight?

"I just knew that the Big Ticket was out, and that the Ticket Stub had to fly in," he said, fighting back giggles after every word. "He flew in early this morning, got in and said he was ready to play. That’s all I know . . . Today they needed the Ticket Stub, and the Ticket Stub came."

Yup.

But, what can you say?

I guess that’s just the Ticket Stub being the . . .

No, wait.

That’s just Uno-Uno being . . .

Nah, let’s try this again.

That’s just Big Baby being . . .

Aw, forget it. Tuesday night was about Glen Davis being Glen Davis.

Rich Levine can be reached at rlevine@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Rich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rlevine33
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CelticKing · Apr 21, 2010

The Ticket Stub haha

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The mystery of Glen Davis

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