We’ve taken exception with Baron Davis’ off-court behavior throughout his career. He’s spent his free time producing movies, developing websites, and working on many other business ventures. He just never expressed a desire to be great on the court and instead wanted to use the fame and money basketball provided him to build a higher profile elsewhere. It’s understandable that he has greater goals than what he aspires to achieve on the court, but he has a responsibility as a basketball player that he doesn’t seem to take seriously enough.
Davis has been benched for partying before games, he’s put on weight before seasons, and admitted he was out of shape. As a result of his lack of desire to be great, our expectations of him on the court have adjusted accordingly. He’s just another point guard in the NBA, nothing more, nothing less.
But now Baron has an off-court venture we can support. Baron Davis is returning to UCLA to complete his history degree, following the advice of his deceased grandmother who encouraged him to do so. He actually is expressing some sound perspective too.
“All the classes I’m signed up for are things I want to learn now,” Baron told reporters. “When you’re in school, you’re studying stuff wondering ‘How am I going to use that in life’ or ‘What does that matter to me?’ Then you get out in the world and you start traveling and history becomes one of the most important things. Now my brain is ready to receive that more than when I was 19 years old and I wanted to dribble [basketballs] all day.”
I understand where he’s coming from because there were times many of us felt the same way. Like I said, many of his off-court ventures have been questionable, but it’s hard not to support this one.
