Peter May: Ricky Davis Could Turn Out To Be A Homicidal Maniac, But He's Okay For Now

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Tuesday, December 23, 2003 
Davis, Celtics marriage works -- thus far
By Peter May 
Special to ESPN.com 
Ricky Davis had been with the Celtics for less than a week when the nation's terror alert was raised a notch. For once, it wasn't his fault.
		
	The Celtics have welcomed Ricky Davis with open arms -- for now.	
The most high profile, and high maintenance, of the newest members of the Celtics brought with him from Cleveland more baggage than Lady Astor -- and an equal amount of promise and talent. If he can unload the former and unleash the latter, the Celtics feel they will be on to something.
You won't find too many neutral opinions of the exciting, excitable Davis. On one end he spectrum is Paul Silas, who coached Davis in both Charlotte and Cleveland. Every time he saw Davis, he reminded himself how grateful he was to not be carrying a firearm.
At the other end are two former ex-Celtics, Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge, who both listen to brain typing guru Jonathan Niednagel. The so-called brain doc likes Davis -- and Niednagel has had success with some of his NBA finds. McHale, running the Timberwolves, signed Davis to a big offer sheet in 2002, which Cleveland matched. Ainge, running the Celtics, plucked Davis from the Cavs, where things had deteriorated to the point that Cleveland would have let him go for nothing had NBA rules allowed it.
Now Davis is with the Celtics and there are abundant theories as to how it will all play out. Of course, no one knows. But one GM worried about Davis' impact on the younger Celtics, particularly the young Czech, Jiri Welsch, who has played so well, and the No. 1 pick, Marcus Banks, who is having trouble finding meaningful minutes. 
McHale countered that Davis merely needed a "change of scenery,'' which is exactly what Jerry West said about Bonzi Wells -- and that seems to be working out fine for the Grizzlies. Another GM speculated Davis would be on Cary Grant-ish behavior for a while -- then watch out. The reasoning: if he can't get along with the genial Silas, how will he ever co-exist with the demanding Jim O'Brien? Davis said he welcomes the change.
"It has been hard there (Cleveland) the last two years, with the changing of guys and the changing of coaches,'' Davis said. "Here (in Boston) you've got a good coach who has been here three years. And everybody loves him. I just have to find my niche. It's my good fortune to be able to start over with another great team again.''
Then again, maybe O'Brien and the Celtics are exactly what Davis needs at this point in his career. That is the thinking in Boston, anyway. A combination of discipline and the realization that you get only so many chances may be enough to convince Davis to grow up. Davis said coming to Boston "feels like being reborn'' and, so far, he has caused nary a ripple.
Ainge sat down with Davis and told him, point-blank, that there would be no tolerating any more knucklehead behavior, such as shooting at your own basket to get a triple double or openly pouting on the floor because someone else (LeBron James in this instance) was a bigger celebrity. Ainge also knows that at least two teams (Minnesota being one of them) would take Davis in a nanosecond if he decided to reroute the acrobatic swingman for whatever reason.
But Ainge doesn't want to do that. He wants to see Davis grow, mature, be a reliable second to Paul Pierce, and help upgrade the Celtics' talent base to the point where they can be deemed to be serious competitors in the low-rent Eastern Conference. On a talent basis alone, prying Davis (and Chris Mihm) from the Cavs for role players like Eric Williams, Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown, was a steal for the Celtics. But if that's the case, why did the coaches lobby against the deal and why did O'Brien look like a man who needed lots of love on the night of the deal?
Part of the reason was losing Williams and Battie, two guys who played hurt, played hard (most of the time) and, in the case of Williams, was an invaluable leader and locker room presence. Coaches love guys like that. They hate guys like Davis, or, at least, the guy Davis was reputed to be. And did you happen to notice that the Cavs quickly won two road games after the deal?
Davis can be an electrifying offensive performer, which is why the Celtics got him. But he can be an enigmatic defensive performer, which is why he was the runaway leader (on the wrong end) in a plus-minus survey of NBA players by esteemed statistical sage Harvey Pollack. That will be O'Brien's main concern.
"Getting Ricky on board with the way we play defense, and the way we attempt to play -- the intensity level -- is going to be a challenge,'' O'Brien said. "It's not just moving from X to Y. It's moving from X to Y with an attitude.''
And four teams in six seasons generally is a dead giveaway that something is amiss, especially in a player with Davis' potential and upside. Normally, you are who you are after four years in the league. Then again, maybe it took four teams in six years to convince Davis that there really is no more slack in the rope.
"I'm not going to tell you too much,'' he said when asked about his previous NBA life. "I'm a good person, a good, down-to-earth person. I'm going to prove it on the court and let my court actions prove speak for themselves.''
So far, Davis is coming off the bench, where he is part of a three-part, swingman rotation along with Pierce and Welsch. He has not groused about that. He hasn't sulked about a decrease in shots (from 14.1 per game in Cleveland to about 8 in Boston) or about a decrease in minutes (from 36.2 per game in Cleveland to 23.3 in Boston.) He didn't complain that both of the numbers he had worn as a pro (Nos. 21 and 31) were unavailable in Boston because both are retired.
"To me, it's not really about proving people wrong,'' Davis said. "I just got to get them to change their minds on what they see about Ricky Davis. Some people see Ricky Davis and see a shooter and a scorer. Now, I have a clean, new slate to let everyone see my whole, all-around game.''
The whole hoop world is watching -- and waiting. It will be that way for awhile, until Davis either undergoes the transformation that the Celtics hope for, or until he is shipped off to a fifth team, who will look for the same things the others did -- and never found them. 
Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.