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To say the least, I was curious to attend the press conference welcoming Baron Davis to the Los Angeles Clippers, given the bizarre circumstances swirling about BD’s hometown over the last 72 hours. Really, it all began a week or so, when Baron Davis shocked the NBA by opting out of his contract with the Golden State Warriors, then coming to a rather quick verbal agreement with his hometown Clips. From there, Brand opted out, giving statements that he was intending to return and everyone from fans to Davis to the Clips seemingly under the impression that a powerhouse movie producing hoops duo was about to bust loose in L.A.

Then came the last three days.
Broken down communications between Elton Brand and the Clippers, which eventually led to him signing a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.   Sleazy… er… super-agent Lex Luthor… er… David Falk spouting off about “take it or leave it offers” and general disrespect. Coach Mike Dunleavy firing back (and then some), accusing Falk of ego, ulterior motives and straight up lying. Brand, one of L.A. (and sports’) good guys, now sporting a seriously tarnished image over what was likely just a change of heart not owned up to

And then there’s Davis, on the edge of it all and likely wondering what the hell he just stepped in.

Upon being introduced, Davis did his best to hide any remorse. He talked about appreciating the opportunity offered by the Clippers, good enough to take “a chance on me.” His decision to return home wasn’t about cash, but rather his heart, along with the chance to impact the local community, city and kids “who grew up with the same vision and the same goals that I have.” As for the Clips, he promised lots of “fun, fun, fun” on the court, “the start of the new generation.”  Plus,  as Davis noted, there was another perk to being here.

“I get to hang out with Jim Hill every day.”

Time to talk a little Rocky III shop!!!

It was interesting to me how Davis tended to talk more (and with what often appeared to be more enthusiasm) about being home than being a Clipper.  He didn’t look down,” exactly.  But I noticed how his thumbs were twiddled a lot before the press conference began and the charm could be unleashed.  Lot of jokes cracked (Huge laughs upon noting how much easier it was to sneak into the Sports Arena - as he often did- to watch the Clips than the Forum and the Lakers).  Lot of smiles beamed.  But I’d be lying if I claimed Davis came off as totally cool with the way events went down or his current situation.   How this stint in red, white and blue will play out remains to be seen, but I’d be lying if I claimed much confidence.  But for now, this is where we’re at, so let’s see where it goes.

Copy from Davis and Dunleavy is below.

Baron Davis

On Elton Brand not being here
“I wish Elton Brand the best. He’s a great guy. He’s always going to be a great friend of mine, regardless of what goes on. He made a decision for the future of his family and he wanted to be closer to his family (in New York). It’s the same decision that I made and I’m sure that people in the Bay Area may not understand that, but any time there’s family involved, it’s always on a grander scale.”

Was he under the impression Brand would be here?
“You always kind of have a doubt until somebody says anything and once I made my commitment, I knew what I wanted to do. For him, it took him a little bit longer. And you can’t be mad at a guy for taking his time and weighing out all his options. Once I committed, the Warriors threw a lot of money at him, so you have to entertain that. I can imagine how I felt going through the process and then when it was his turn, when the light was on him, it’s a tough situation to be in. You know you’re going to hurt some feelings. Some people are going to be upset and mad at you, but you have to do what’s best for you. I commend him for doing what he thought was the best deal for him.”

Did Brand’s decision tempt him to rethink his?
“No. Once I commit to something, I do it. I was committed to the Clippers and they were committed to me. I was honored to come here and I was privileged. I did think that Elton was going to come. I talked to talk to him and tried to tell him, “Hey, this is the best place for you. We can do great things.” But obviously, he chose otherwise. Can’t be mad at him for that. There’s no more Elton Brand in L.A. It’s my turn and it’s a chance for the young guys to step up. Get a couple more free agents and we’ll be ready to go.

On whether he’s disappointed by Brand’s decision
“Not anymore. I’m signed, sealed and delivered, so I’m not disappointed at all. And he’s signed and he’s committed, so you can’t be disappointed anymore.

On whether he actually gave Brand his blessing to do whatever he wanted, as EB said during an ESPN Interview
“Yeah, and I don’t know why he needed my blessing.”(laughs) “It’s not like I’m the Godfather or something. Michael Corleone or something. (laughs) We talk, you know. Anytime that you’re friends, you kind of want to give each other advice. We’re friends. I think that’s the most important thing. He’s a great player. He’s going to do great things in Philadelphia. We’re going to do great things in Los Angeles.

On whether the back and forth between Coach Mike Dunleavy and Elton Brand’s camp has almost grown comical
“I played with Mike Dunleavy Jr and we got a great relationship on the Warriors. Knowing him and now knowing his dad, all I know is he’s a man of his word. Anything that he’s ever said to me has been honest and I respect that. I think a lot of times, people get emotionally tied in and your brain just gets to moving and you take stabs and jabs. Your personal feelings get attached. From Coach’s standpoint, he’s just being an honest guy,committed to what he said he’s going to do. I’m gonna go to bat for him and I’m gonna go to war for him each and every day.”

On what he likes about his new team
“We have a lot to build on. We have a lot of great young talent. A lot of good athletic guys. I like Tim Thomas. I like Cuttino Mobley. Chris Kaman, I think he’s an All-Star in the making.

On his feelings about the Clippers when he was a kid growing up in Los Angeles
“I always loved the Clippers. You root for the underdog. Obviously, everybody in L.A. is a Laker fan, but deep down inside, you root for the Clipper. If you’re a true Los Angelean, that’s how it happens. You always want the Clippers to do well. And for me, it was easier for me to (sneak) into the Clippers games than it was the Lakers games. (laughs) And I started getting older, I became good friends with Derrik Martin. There’s a lot of personal history with the Clippers.

The one thing that stuck out in my mind, I had to have been about five or six years old. Gary Grant and Benoit Benjamin came down to my neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles and passed out Christmas gifts. I had never seen that before from an NBA player, from anybody. To see an NBA player come into your neighborhood, where it’s not safe, kids really don’t have any hope. For them to come in and do something like that made me a Clipper fan forever.”

On the videos of him on Youtube.com rollerskating and generally being silly.
“Yeah. I’m gonna continue to do short film and kind of spoof some commercials. Make fun of some NBA guys. Just have fun. That’s what Youtube is for. I don’t take myself too seriously. I hope nobody else does, except when I’m doing serious work. But other than that, off the court, I spent a lot time doing Youtube videos. ibeatyou competitions. My website, Ibeatyou.com, I’m on that all the time. My spare time is really spent goofing off, outside of the court.

On the Clippers’ bad history not mattering to him
“I’m here now. That’s all I can say. I want to move forward. I want to take this organization and move it forward. No matter where they’ve been, no matter what’s happened in the past. I have the opportunity to come in and do something great in this city and that’s what I plan to do.”

On whether he had any plans to retroactively pay back the organization for all the games he sneaked into without a ticket
“Nah. We kind of worked that out within the deal.” (laughs)

MIKE DUNLEAVY

About the Clippers’ general situation right now
“The biggest thing right now is we have cap space. We have the ability to go do something. Don’t make a mistake. Just make sure that we don’t have a knee jerk reaction to this. Right now, we’re taking our time and evaluating all the situations. We’re gonna make some moves here. Probably by next week, we’ll have made some decisions about what direction we want to go.”

On the text messages Dunleavy says Brand sent out that gave the impression he was coming back.
“The text messages were all basically based on the deal. Don’t worry. It’s all good. We’re here. We got it. But not only to me, to his teammates. I was at practice the other day. I was shown text messages from him. It’s all good. It’s all done. Me, you and BD. That’s up to them, if they want to show them to you. But I saw them with my own eyes.”

On a contract they drew up, which David Falk went over
“He marked it up. His handwriting. He marked it up with changes that he wanted in the deal and told Andy Roeser, “If Baron agrees, we’ll sign this deal.” Andy told me the same thing and then we for the deal with Baron and I assumed our deal (with Elton) was done.”

Asked whether at any point, they didn’t have full cooperation from Donald Sterling
“No. First of all, Andy and I had full authority from the owner to do whatever we needed. David Falk, kept talking about, it was just an ego thing, “I want to talk to the owner.” We don’t need to talk to the owner. The owner gave us carte blanche. We can do whatever we need to do. And that’s what we did.

On whether this development is more disappointing to him professionally (because of how it affects the team) or personally (because of how he felt about Brand)
“It’s hard to say. It’s both. He’s certainly one of my favorite players. We’ve been through a lot together. On the court and off the court. I want nothing but the best for him. I would have honored any decision that he made. David Falk just came out with guns blazing and scorched the earth in that conference yesterday. It is what it is.”

On whether he feels more angry than hurt
“I don’t know the emotion. They’re all intertwined. Bottom line, probably more hurt, because I cared about him so much.”

Other Notes

Clippers President Andy Roeser emphasized that the renouncing of Shaun Livingston’s rights were purely a financial thing and that they’d like to resign him if possible. They have also met with Atlanta Hawks restricted free agent Josh Smith and his representatives, but at this point, no offer has been made.

AK

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