Baron Walter

Baron Walter Louis Davis (born April 13, 1979) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA. Davis became a star at Crossroads School and UCLA. Davis was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets as the third pick in the 1999 NBA Draft.

NBA career

Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets

Davis was the third pick in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. In his NBA debut, a 100–86 win over the Orlando Magic, Davis scored nine points, and added five rebounds, two assists and two steals. In Davis' first year, he backed up Eddie Jones and David Wesley, but by Davis' second year he started all 82 games for the Hornets. Davis would lead Charlotte to the second round of the playoffs in back-to-back years, the first being a sweep of the Miami Heat in the 2001 NBA Playoffs. The next season, Davis started all 82 games again while averaging 18 points a game and 8.5 assists per game. He was also selected as an injury replacement for Vince Carter in the 2002 NBA All-Star Game. In the summer of 2002 the Charlotte Hornets moved from Charlotte, North Carolina to New Orleans, Louisiana. Davis would lead the Hornets back to the playoffs, but the next two years were first round exits. Injuries would plague Davis for much of his tenure in New Orleans.

He played for the US national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.

Golden State Warriors

On February 24, 2005, Davis was traded from the Hornets to the Golden State Warriors for guard Speedy Claxton and veteran forward Dale Davis after tension with the Hornets coaching staff and several nagging injuries[6]. The move created one of the more potent backcourts in the NBA with Davis and star guard Jason Richardson. It also saw Davis' return to California where he craved to return to since his college days in UCLA.

After two seasons in which the Warriors underachieved under coach Mike Montgomery, the Warriors hired former coach Don Nelson for the 2006–2007 season. His high scoring offensive system was designed to fit Davis's uptempo style. Although Davis suffered through knee soreness and underwent surgery during the season, he still led the Warriors to their first playoffs since 1994. The Warriors swept the regular season series against the Mavericks 3–0 giving them an advantage and won the series against the top seeded Dallas Mavericks 4–2, making them the 1st No. 8 seed to beat a No.1 seed since the NBA changed the 1st round from a 5-game series to a 7-game series. It was numerically the largest upset in the history of the NBA playoffs, with the 67–15 Mavericks having a record of 25 games better than the 42–40 Warriors. Davis averaged 25 points in the series. In the following series, against the Utah Jazz, the Warriors' run ended in 5 games.

Davis's performance in the 2007 NBA Playoffs drew praise from basketball analysts and fans alike, with a few claiming Davis to be the best player in the post-season. Davis' playoff highlights included numerous acrobatic layups, a half-court three-pointer at the buzzer, and a memorable dunk over Andrei Kirilenko. The Jazz eliminated the undersized Warriors 4 games to 1. Davis averaged 25.3 points, 6.5 assists, 2.9 steals, and 4.5 rebounds per game in the 2007 Playoffs.

After the 2007–08 season, in which Davis failed to guide the Warriors to the playoffs, Davis's agent Todd Ramasar claimed that Davis might opt out of his contract with the Warriors, which would have paid him $17.8 million, to pursue other options.[10] This was seen as evidence of a rift between Davis and coach Don Nelson growing after Nelson pulled Davis from a playoff elimination game against the Phoenix Suns due to Davis's poor playing and shooting (2–13 in 17 minutes; the Warriors were down 14 points when Davis left the game, losing by 6). On June 30, 2008, Davis opted out of his contract with the Golden State Warriors.

Los Angeles Clippers

On July 1, 2008 Davis verbally agreed to a 5-year, $65 million dollar deal to play for the Los Angeles Clippers, and officially signed with the Clippers on July 10, 2008. Although Davis committed to joining the Clippers with the intention of playing with Elton Brand Davis still signed and said that Brand's departure had no impact on his decision to come to Los Angeles.