The Unsung Greatness of Baron Davis

Baron Davis has played for some crappy teams.

Actually, he's played for a lot of crappy teams.

And he has made them all better—much, much better in most cases.

And this is very good news for the New York Knicks, who—at 7-13 now—are in the midst of a very crappy season.

But worry not, my New York brethren, for Baron Davis is almost back from back injury as the days of February near ... and soon--in the next week or two--he will make his Knick debut, just for you.

Consequently I am sure, we will once again see the Knicks rise, just like all of Baron’s teams do once he puts on their uniform.

He's kinda like a superhero that way ... He saves basketball cities from getting destroyed.

Injuries, however, are his Kryptonite.

Davis has already missed 20 games this year. Missed 24 contests last year. Out for 7 the season before that. And 17 the year before that.

But when he plays, Davis makes his teams much better.

The Knicks will be his fifth NBA organization--along with the Cavs, Clippers, Warriors and Hornets--but it will actually be his 15th different team in 13 NBA seasons when you consider the yearly makeovers of each squad ... And with the exception of one campaign, every team was better when Davis was on the floor for them (see the the comparisons at the bottom of this page).

Add up the record of every team in the games Davis played ... and you'll tabulate a .489 winning percentage (416-434).

That's not necessarily good, but consider this: when Davis was not in uniform for whatever reason, those same teams saw their winning percentage drop to a miserable .292 (93-225) without him.

Davis turns lemons into lemonade with a slice of lemon meringue pie.

Remember, the Clippers' Blake Show really got rolling when Davis came back from injury and helped L.A. start winning (who can forget that 11-4 stretch last December-January?).

Who can forget the Davis-orchestrated Warriors' upset of Dirk Nowitzki's No. 1 Mavs in the 2007 NBA Playoffs.

And if you think back real hard, you'll picture a young, two-time All-Star Baron Davis leading the Hornets to five straight playoff appearances in his first five years in the league.

Simply put, the 6-3, 212-pound point guard makes the game easier for all around him (yeah, I see you Tyson Chandler, Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony--just waiting for a quarterback).

Other numbers show it too.

More than half of Davis' assists last year--both for the Cavs and Clippers--came on layups or dunks, as he led the league in Most Valuable Assists.

It's not just box-score stats that show his value. Advanced plus-minus stats really capture his contributions.

His per-48-minute +4.1 Regularized Adjusted Plus-Minus numbers are only bested at the starting point guard position by Chris Paul (+5.7), Kyle Lowry (+4.3) and Steve Nash (+4.1).

And when you look at Jeremias Engelmann's 10-year RAPM numbers, the only PGs who top him on the per-48-minute level (+5.0) are once again Paul (+5.9) and Nash (+5.7).

He's that good.

So when New York starts winning in February, don't forget to dole out the credit to the unsung hero.

We've already taken note that New York might not even be a .500 team without Davis assisting them.

But trust this, things will change for the better once Baron puts his Knickerbockers on.

For Davis is the reason the Knicks could become a second-round playoff threat. As long as he's healthy in April and May.

Yes, indeed. With B. Diddy running the point, New York can go from a smalls to a biggie state of mind justlikethat, overnight.

He makes that much of a difference on every team he touches.

2011-12 New York Knicks (7-13, .350)

with Baron Davis: 0-0

without Baron Davis: 7-13, .350

2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers (19-63, 232)

with Baron Davis: 6-9, .400

without Baron Davis: 13-54, .194

2010-11 Los Angeles Clippers (32-50, .390)

with Baron Davis: 18-25, .419

without Baron Davis: 14-25, .359

2009-10 Los Angeles Clippers (29-53, .354)

with Baron Davis: 27-48, .360

without Baron Davis: 2-5, .286

2008-09 Los Angeles Clippers (19-63, 232)

with Baron Davis: 17-48, .262

without Baron Davis: 2-15, .118

2007-08 Golden State Warriors (48-34, .585)

with Baron Davis: 48-34, .585

without Baron Davis: 0-0

2006-07 Golden State Warriors (42-40, .512)

with Baron Davis: 36-27, .571

without Baron Davis: 6-13, .316

2005-06 Golden State Warriors (34-48, .415)

with Baron Davis: 23-31, .426

without Baron Davis: 11-17, .393

2004-05 Golden State Warriors(34-48, .415)

with Baron Davis: 18-10, .643

without Baron Davis: 16-38, .296

2004-05 New Orleans Hornets (18-64, .220)

with Baron Davis: 7-36, .163

without Baron Davis: 11-28, .282

2003-04 New Orleans Hornets (41-41, .500)

with Baron Davis: 36-31, .537

without Baron Davis: 5-10, .333

2002-03 New Orleans Hornets (47-35, .573)

with Baron Davis: 41-28, .594

without Baron Davis: 6-7, .462

2001-02 Charlotte Hornets (44-38, .537)

with Baron Davis: 44-38, .537

without Baron Davis: 0-0

2000-01 Charlotte Hornets (46-36, .561)

with Baron Davis: 46-36, .561

without Baron Davis: 0-0

1999-2000 Charlotte Hornets (49-33, .598)

with Baron Davis: 49-33, .598

without Baron Davis: 0-0