Warriors’ Flashback: Baron Davis, a Golden State Icon

Before the Bay Area was blessed with the once-in-a-generation shooter in Stephen Curry, the Golden State Warriors’ playoff hopes rested on the shoulders of another exciting point guard.

Coming out of UCLA in 1999, Baron Davis had already made a name for himself being drafted third overall. Despite suffering a devastating ACL injury in college, Davis seemingly made a full recovery. Baron was the star of the early 2000’s Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets squads, making the playoffs every season during his tenure there. He carried much of the offensive load for the Hornets, particularly during the 2002 playoffs when the Charlotte Hornets defeated Tracy McGrady‘s Magic while Davis averaged 22.6 points, 7.9 assists, 7.9 rebounds and 3.6 steals until they lost to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Nets in the semi-finals.

In 2005, the Warriors acquired Davis from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis. While he had a relatively successful career with the Hornets, Baron’s most memorable years were with the Warriors squad that eventually upset the #1 seeded Mavericks in 2007, when he was paired with fan-favorite Jason Richardson to form a backcourt that was the heart of the team.

While we all love watching Steph torch teams with pull-up jumpers, shifty handles, fly-by threes, and impossible floaters, we loved Baron for other reasons. Davis was quite a unique point guard — a different beast. At 6’3″ and almost 220 pounds, Baron was a BIG point guard. He carried enough mass to bully lighter point guards around but had deceptive quickness and foot speed to blow by bigger defenders. He also was a fantastic ball-handler, with a variety of crafty dribble moves as well as a decent post-up game to create shots for himself and others.

Most importantly, he was an excellent facilitator, averaging just over seven assists in a span of 15 seasons. On the Warriors’ squad, Baron lacked the explosiveness and vertical leap he displayed with UCLA and the Hornets; however, he was still very adept at drawing contact and finding ways to sneak the ball into the hoop. You could almost say he was a prototypical James Harden in that he sported an iconic beard, was a great finisher who liked to shoot, and was capable of finding his own shot or open teammates.

(h/t NBAClutchTime, YouTube)

The We Believe Era

Like other offensive-minded players, Baron thrived under Don Nelson‘s high-tempo offense. Nelson gave him freedom on the court to command the floor. It was Baron who orchestrated the playoff push that earned the Warriors the coveted eighth seed during the 2006-07 season. Come postseason time, Baron played out of his mind. It was Baron who led the team to a magical upset over MVP Dirk Nowitzki and the first-seeded Mavericks. It was Baron who was responsible for blowing the collective brains of fans at Oracle Arena with moments like the buzzer-beating half court shot, crazy and-one’s, and the nastiest dunk ever over an elite defender in Andrei Kirilenko (the first clip in the video above).

Baron and the Warriors straight-up brought the house down. While they couldn’t overcome the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference semi’s, the Davis-led 2007 Warriors will forever be carved into the history books and the hearts of loyal Warrior fans.

Sadly like all good things, the Warriors’ success came to an end during the 2007-2008 season when they traded away Jason Richardson and failed to make the playoffs again despite great seasons from Baron and Monta Ellis.

Post-Warriors Career

During the summer of 2008, Davis opted out of his contract and decided to sign a hefty five-year, $65 million dollar contract to return to Los Angeles and play for the Clippers. His production noticeably diminished after leaving Golden State due to nagging injuries and some lack of motivation. Just as Baron began to develop some chemistry with rookie Blake Griffin, he was traded away to the Cavaliers.  From there, Baron’s career went downhill from a basketball standpoint. While a decent role player with the New York Knicks during the 2011-2012 lockout-shortened season, a complete tear of his ACL and MCL during the playoffs ended his season.

Davis hasn’t put on an NBA jersey since then. While he has comedically hinted at a comeback via YouTube videos with Steve Nash, it is a likely possibility that Davis is done as an NBA player. That being said, Baron has a cornucopia of other interests outside the NBA that will keep him busy. Baron might not have been the most efficient player, but man was he entertaining. It is easy to start nitpicking at what he could have been if he was never injured or if he reached his full potential had his mind always been on the game. But why do that when you can remember the joy he brought to basketball fans everywhere?