More Baron

I was able to catch up with Baron Davis before today’s game, the most extended conversation he’s had with the media in the last month or so. Anyway, in addition to the column I filed, here’s a few extra quotes from BD.

After avoiding the spotlight for a few weeks, Davis was very candid before Wednesday’s game and, dare I say, even a bit chipper. He spoke about this season, his injuries, and his reaction to criticism that he’s been out too long with his latest injury.

“The rush is to play. At a certain point, you have to stop paying attention to your record and play when you can. For me, the first opportunity I get to play, I want to get out there.

“I wanted to play in the Minnesota game. I was like just give me 10 minutes coach, that’s all I need is ten minutes. Not being able to do something you do every day of your life is tough, no matter what the record is.”

When asked how he felt about criticism that he’s taken a while to come back from his latest injury, Davis calmly defended his record.

“A lot of you don’t know but a lot of my career, I played in games being hurt. You go back to my days in Charlotte when I played with cartilage in my knee, playing with herniated disks in my back for the entire season,” Davis said. “Me playing hurt is something that I’ve always done. but as you get older, you become a little bit wiser and you understand, do you want to miss five to seven games, or do you want to miss 40 games.

“I’ve got thick skin. The people who know me, the people who’ve been around me. you could ask our trainers how hard I work, how much I want to be out there on that floor.”