Latest news with #BaronDavis
Forbes
03-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Baron Davis On How The Charlotte Hornets Can End Their Playoff Drought: ‘For One, They Have To Be Healthy'
It's hard to believe it, but the Charlotte Hornets haven't won a playoff series since Baron Davis suited up for them. The former two-time All-Star guard played for the Hornets from 1999 until 2005. Davis was the face of the franchise after the team selected him with the third overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. The 6-foot-3 guard led Charlotte to the playoffs during all five full seasons he was with the team, leading them to their last playoff series win in 2002. Flash forward 23 years later and the Hornets haven't won a playoff series since. Charlotte has the longest current NBA playoff series win drought and the longest postseason appearance drought, with their last one coming during the 2015-16 season. The Hornets have some key young franchise pieces, including LaMelo Ball, a former All-Star who averaged 25.2 points per game during the 2024-25 season. However, Ball only started 47 games and he was ruled out for the remainder of the season in late March due to two procedures to address ankle and wrist issues. Ball has only appeared in a combined 105 games over the past three since his All-Star appearance in 2022. The injuries to Ball combined to other key pieces of the team such as Brandon Miller and Tre Mann have played a major role in Charlotte's playoff drought. The Hornets finished with a 19-63 record, the third-worst mark in the NBA. "For one, they have to be healthy when you're a young team like that," says Davis in a one-on-one interview when asked what they do need to do get things on the right track. "It's important that your chemistry is on and when you look at Brandon Miller, LaMelo Ball, Tre Mann, all these guys have been hurt over the last year and a half, two seasons. "It's really derailed their growth as that next young team that could potentially be scary," Davis continues to say. "The next Detroit or Houston as far as talent. I think for the Hornets, they need to get some able bodies and the right combination of veteran leadership to complement their young superstars." The Hornets have been among the worst teams in the NBA in recent seasons, all coinciding with major injuries to Ball. During the 2023-24 season, Charlotte posted a 21-61 record and during the 2022-23 season, they posted a 27-55 record. For three consecutive years, the Hornets have posted the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference. By comparison, they racked up a respectable 43-39 record during the 2021-22 campaign, the last season Ball was healthy. "We can't really start the process of seeing what you have, where you want to go, setting different goals, until you actually have a full squad, and they've never started and finished the season with the same squad," says Davis. When asked what the Hornets should do with their No. 4 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Davis says that if he was the general manager, he would be "exploring all options." "If I was the GM, I'd be exploring all options," says Davis. "I'd be trying to compliment LaMelo Ball with a veteran star or superstar, somebody that can anchor these young guys. With the fourth pick, there's going to be some great talent. But I think the Hornets are in a good position, because they got a lot of really good young talent and really good young talent that has potential. This can be an incredible off season for them where they can align themselves and put the right team together." While Davis is obviously best known for his 13-year NBA career, he has since made his mark as an entrepreneur. The 46-year-old Davis is making his mark in the business world with "Business Inside The Game," which is a membership community for athletes and entrepreneurs. Davis will be at the Social Innovation Summit on Tuesday and Wednesday in San Francisco, California and is speaking on stage on Wednesday for "A Future Worth Building: Gamechangers in Action" in session. He'll be speaking to attendees on what it means to drive social impact through entrepreneurship. "This is the first one that we're collaborating with Business Inside The Game," says Davis. Our platform and our membership concierge is starting to expand into partnerships with social innovation, which is one of the leading platforms in our space." The former NBA guard has done a few of these events at the Social Innovation Summit and explains why it's important for entrepreneurs or those thinking of becoming one to attend. "As we start looking at sports and entertainment, things are changing," says Davis. "There's going to be new opportunities and new verticals. When you look at the student athlete, the NIL athlete, professional athletes have more opportunities now to treat themselves as entrepreneurs based on the skills they want to develop and the connections and who they want to be when they grow up." Davis' biggest advice to young athletes — many who are already business-minded and entrepreneurs during their college careers — is to "invest in yourself." "Invest in yourself, invest in your education, invest in your skill sets," says Davis. "The same way you would invest in your playing career, some of the things that you want to as an entrepreneur, whatever that industry is, investing your knowledge in that industry. In turn, shadow, find mentors, because that's going to ultimately help you succeed as an entrepreneur." The former All-Star guard will be launching his app for "Business Inside The Game" this year, which is a concierge for executives, entrepreneurs and investors. He details that through membership in the app, members have special access to events behind the scenes and special activations. He also is releasing a business-centric podcast in July of the same name as his company. He name drops guests such as Jack Black, Draymond Green and Russell Westbrook's wife, Nina, who is an entrepreneur herself after starring at UCLA as a basketball player. Davis details how the biggest challenge of being an entrepreneur is the "lonely road" you travel to build your business. "Just learning how to really run a show," says Davis. "as an entrepreneur, you have to do everything for your business. In sports, you already have a team, you already have an institution and people around you. As an entrepreneur, it's more of a lonely road."
New York Times
07-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
The ‘We Believe'… Nuggets? How Denver's late-season overhaul sparked a mantra's revival
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Denver Nuggets truly don't care that Draymond Green is bothered by their new slogan. Or Baron Davis, for that matter. Yes, they know that 'We Believe' was the official mantra of the legendary Golden State Warriors team that upset the top-seeded Dallas Mavericks as a No. 8 seed in 2007, and which included Davis as the star point guard. But given everything they've been through in this past month — from the shocking firings of their coach and general manager with just three games left in the regular season to the resilient seven-game series win over the LA Clippers in the first round that followed — no one in a Nuggets jersey is about to feel bad about this bit of motivational thievery. Even less so after the madness that ensued Monday night in Oklahoma City. Everywhere you looked inside the visitor's locker room of the Thunder's Paycom Center, where Denver rallied back from a nine-point deficit in the last three minutes to pull off a stunning Game 1 win against one of the most dominant regular-season teams of all time in their second-round series, there were those Nuggets T-shirts and towels that riled Green and Davis so on a recent podcast. 'We Believe,' they read. It's unoriginal, to be sure, but the messaging is proving quite prophetic of late. Interim coach David Adelman, who spent the past eight seasons as an assistant under former coach Michael Malone, has received rave reviews from players who had grown weary of his predecessor's abrasive style. Interim general manager Ben Tenzer, who has been with the organization for 16 years and spent the last four as vice president of basketball operations, is taking the selfless, supportive route after the departed Calvin Booth paid the price for his 'cold war' with Malone. By all accounts, the bad vibes that compelled team president/owner's son Josh Kroenke to make such an extreme organizational move are much better now. So while Green even went so far as to say that 'someone should be fired' by the Nuggets as a result of the marketing move, the odds of that happening are quite slim. Especially since the idea, as it turns out, came from the very man who does the firing in these parts, Josh Kroenke. As Nuggets guard Jamal Murray put it, 'Draymond's always gonna talk.' Insert shrug emoji — and a smiley face — here. Ironically, neither the Nuggets nor the Warriors have the necessary rights to feature the 'We Believe' messaging on team apparel (a company called '47 Brand' does). So when Denver heads back to Ball Arena for Game 3 on Friday, it's back to the 'Keep Climbing' messaging that comes without the complications. Truth be told, these underdog Nuggets would love nothing more than to stun the Thunder in this series and field Green's complaints in person in a Western Conference finals matchup (the Warriors are 1-0 against Minnesota in their second-round series). 'It's corny, but it's also true,' Nuggets big man and resident veteran spokesman DeAndre Jordan told The Athletic about the motto. 'We believe in each other. We believe in what we can do. And we've got a lot of great guys in this room who have won, who can contribute to winning, and what our ultimate goal is. I think the environment is just us against everybody else, man. We have faith in this group. 'I think with DA (Adelman) at the helm now, people think we're a wounded animal. We let go of our coach and our general manager with three games left in the season. I mean, if I were on another team, I would think the same thing, too. But I think this has been a great thing for us to bond together. We've become stronger and more resilient.' Translation: All that matters to the Nuggets is that it's working. Not only is Nikola Jokić still playing at the historic level that carried them to this point, but there has been a noticeable — and welcome — uptick in his vocal leadership of late. In the eyes of some within the organization, it's Adelman's more understated, collaborative approach that has empowered Jokić to use his voice even more than before. The latest example came in the second quarter of Game 1. Going over the plan to defeat the gorilla — Jasmine (@JasmineLWatkins) May 6, 2025 'We are just telling the truth, and we are accepting it,' Jokić said afterward when asked about the state of the team's culture. 'We just want to win, you know? It's a great feeling inside of the team, and hopefully we can continue to play like this — and feel like this.' With Michael Porter Jr. seriously limited by a shoulder injury he suffered in Game 2 against the Clippers, Aaron Gordon — who is playing through a serious calf injury — has been huge. Gordon, whose putback buzzer dunk in Game 6 against the Clippers was already the most memorable game-winner of the playoffs, added to his clutch highlight reel with the game-winning 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left on Monday. His remarkable playoff run has been made all the more meaningful because of the tragedy he and his family endured last May, when his 33-year-old brother, Drew, died in a car accident. And when the time came for Aaron to take the postgame podium after Game 1, he wasn't alone. Two of his nephews, whom he has gone to great lengths to support after their father passed, enjoyed the moment alongside him. This moment between Aaron Gordon and his nephews is too wholesome 🥹 (via @nuggets) — ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 6, 2025 The list of Nuggets who have been coming up big in this past month is long. And true to form, it includes Murray, their perennial playoff riser, who is loving the mood shift of late. He had 21 points, six rebounds, six assists and was a plus-12 in Game 1 against the Thunder. 'We've been trying to move in a positive direction,' Murray told The Athletic about this past month. 'I mean, Malone was so close with everybody — won a championship, been through all the adversity. He really built the culture here with the core who'd been together — Jok, (former Nugget) Gary Harris, me, and then it was Mike. We'd been together for a long time.' Yet that's part of the appeal with Adelman as well, as the 43-year-old has nearly a decade of experience with this group. 'He has the attention of the locker room, and that's all you can ask for,' Murray continued. 'He knows his stuff, and so he's confident in the group, confident in the way everybody can do it. He knows everybody individually. And I think he's just done a great job. It's not easy to do, to have that kind of pressure and be able to go in game after game, to stay consistent. I think it's undervalued what he's been doing, because we've been winning, and guys have been having such great nights. But he's been great.' Adelman's contract was set to expire after this season, and the chance for Kroenke to see him in this head coaching role was known to be part of his calculus when it came to the coaching change. Adelman previously interviewed for head coaching vacancies with the Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Charlotte Hornets and has been widely seen as an up-and-coming coaching talent. And at this rate, with the Nuggets believing again after their season seemed lost, his odds of landing the job beyond this season are getting better by the game. 'I'm just more comfortable every day,' Adelman told The Athletic. 'It's like anything else in life. You just take it day by day, hour by hour, and the most important thing for me is I'm just part of this group. I'm just filling a role, and everybody else took a step up. 'I know these guys. I've known them for a long time, so the relationships are already there. Trust is already there. It's just a matter of us all getting back on the same page, them getting used to me and the way I do things. But the bottom line is that it doesn't matter what I'm doing, it's what they're doing. And being a part of this right now is really cool.' (Photo of the Nuggets celebrating their Game 1 win over OKC: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
