When John Wall Ended Baron Davis’ Career
All it took was one poster.
At the pinnacle of his career, Baron Davis was able to outjump many of his opponents’ apexes.
He stood at 6-3 with a 209-pound body and was as explosive as they came.
That’s why he competed in the 2001 Dunk Contest (his second year in the league) and made it to the finals of the contest. However, he lost to the Seattle Sonics’ Desmond Mason.
Davis was a good defender, too.
He was quick and had good reaction timing, which led to him leading the NBA in steals twice in his career (in 2003-04 and 2006-07).
However, when he got older, he started losing his hops. But he still had that competitive fire in him though and he didn’t want to quit.
And then a young John Wall did him dirty.
The Washington Wizards’ Wall was in his second season, and much like Davis, was an explosive point guard.
And on April 13, 2012, during a game between the New York Knicks and Wizards, Wall destroyed Davis.
The Wizards were on a fast break and Davis ran back to defend the rim. And as he saw Washington’s Jordan Crawford toss the ball up, he knew exactly where it was going and jumped to disrupt the pass.
The problem was that he didn’t jump high enough quick enough, and Wall was already above him, and the young guard had every intention of viciously finishing the lob (which he did).
After getting posterized, Davis knew it was time to hang it up.
“No bulls—t, there’s going to be a time -there’s going to be a point in time in your career where you going to be like, ‘Damn, there’s a new generation,’” Davis said on an episode of Podcast P. “So right here, I’m already in my last year contemplating. So, they throw a lob. I’m like, ‘Man, I’m about to -Oh!’… I knew I was done… That was it. That was my last year.”
Davis also added that this happened on his birthday and the Knicks’ bench ripped him for it.
“And Mike Bibby over there. Oh, bro they laughing. Everybody on the bench like, ‘Happy birthday! Happy Birthday!’”
The crazy thing about this game, too, was that Davis had a good game.
He efficiently scored 18 points on 78 percent shooting, had 2 assists and 2 steals. And the Knicks spanked the Wizards 103-65.
But I guess he just felt his body could no longer hang with the young cats.
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