Last year when Dwight Howard went down with a back injury, Glen Davis really stepped up in his absence. Davis’ numbers went up and he averaged 19 points a game in the Magic’s first round playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers.
With Howard shipped off to L.A., Davis is hoping his streak of solid play will continue, and he’ll become the go to guy in Orlando. Never short on confidence, Big Baby thinks he can handle being the Magic’s new superstar.
"It's about time," Davis said. "I love it. If you think about my career, where I've been and the things I've had to do in spite of different situations, I think it's about time."
Modesty is not one of Davis’ strong points.
He’ll definitely get the chance to show his stuff with Howard gone, it’s really just a question of whether or not he can step up to the plate. Davis seems to think history speaks for itself.
"You've seen glimpses, you've seen the playoffs," Davis said. "You've seen me in a role when I'm told to just play and nobody is telling me when to shoot. Nobody's telling you to do this or that, only to go out there and be you. And when you've seen that, you’ve seen me play like my second year in the league. KG is hurt, Leon Powe is hurt and I was told to go out there and just play. You've seen glimpses, now it's an opportunity to see a whole different human being. I can't predict the future, but I know right now that I'm going to do everything that it takes to be that guy. Accepting the good and bad criticism, holding players accountable, not being complacent and making sure we, as players, are doing everything the coaches ask of us. That's my oath to this team."
Seeing that kind of dedication has to be refreshing to Orlando fans who had to watch Howard’s lethargic flip-flopping for the past couple of seasons. His departure means a whole new identity for this Magic team and if Glen Davis wants to put his face on the franchise, I don’t think anyone is going to step up and stop him. It may be tough to get behind a guy who’s seen a lot of criticism in his career for his attitude, but it looks like Big Baby wants to lead this team whether you like it or not.
Image: NBCProBasketballTalk
