An Open Letter to Baron Davis
Dear Mr. Davis,
In my head, I'm having a battle, because I know that you made the right decision for yourself to go home to Los Angeles, but I just can't get over the three great years you put into bringing the Warriors back from oblivion. The thirteen-year old boy in me just had his heart broken, because there was this something that Larry Hughes, Gilbert Arenas, Antwan Jamison, John Starks, Terry Cummings, Bimbo Coles, and yes even Jason Richardson, could never do when I watched all those Warriors games, and that was get excited, have hope, and believe in my sports heroes again.
I watched you play when you were at UCLA, heck I wanted to even go there for school. I was graduating high school when you started your freshman year and broke into the game and tore up the court. I was watching when you made a ridiculous one-hand fast break down and elevated with more power than anyone in college I'd ever seen do, and then you hurt your knee right after that play. That was when I knew your name, this kid with so much potential, I watched that moment praying you'd be alright.
You came back from your injury and made it to the NBA. Your first few years were filled with frustration and you weren't on many people's radar playing on the Hornets. But when the Warriors traded for you, I knew something was going to happen, good things.
And here it was, a young NBA star in the making, who was finally coming into his own. We're about the same age Baron, and I felt like we were both putting away the same things that made us children and growing into adults, accepting responsibility and becoming leaders. That leadership is what the Warriors sorely needed. Since 1993, noone's taken ownership of this team, but you finally did. Your teammates believed in it, your coach believed in it, and all of us fans, man, did we believe in it. Watching men around my age pulling out our old warriors gear talking about the Warriors again, felt good, we could finally have some pride in reminiscing about Run TMC.
I'd heard somewhere your politics were on point too, that you were trying to make a difference. I was hoping one day we'd meet, shoot the shit about how to make a difference with your money. We did meet face to face at one brief moment, but now, I won't get that chance again...
That 13 year old boy just lost his sports hero, is staring at his poster of you dunking over Andrei Kirilenko and wondering what to do with it. It's okay, I understand how much you want to be at home, playing for the fans you know and grew up with, you'll have a better shot at becoming an All-Star now. Now I'll just have to blame everything on LA.
Signed,
leonard
P.S.
Is this really what convinced you?
In my head, I'm having a battle, because I know that you made the right decision for yourself to go home to Los Angeles, but I just can't get over the three great years you put into bringing the Warriors back from oblivion. The thirteen-year old boy in me just had his heart broken, because there was this something that Larry Hughes, Gilbert Arenas, Antwan Jamison, John Starks, Terry Cummings, Bimbo Coles, and yes even Jason Richardson, could never do when I watched all those Warriors games, and that was get excited, have hope, and believe in my sports heroes again.
I watched you play when you were at UCLA, heck I wanted to even go there for school. I was graduating high school when you started your freshman year and broke into the game and tore up the court. I was watching when you made a ridiculous one-hand fast break down and elevated with more power than anyone in college I'd ever seen do, and then you hurt your knee right after that play. That was when I knew your name, this kid with so much potential, I watched that moment praying you'd be alright.
You came back from your injury and made it to the NBA. Your first few years were filled with frustration and you weren't on many people's radar playing on the Hornets. But when the Warriors traded for you, I knew something was going to happen, good things.
And here it was, a young NBA star in the making, who was finally coming into his own. We're about the same age Baron, and I felt like we were both putting away the same things that made us children and growing into adults, accepting responsibility and becoming leaders. That leadership is what the Warriors sorely needed. Since 1993, noone's taken ownership of this team, but you finally did. Your teammates believed in it, your coach believed in it, and all of us fans, man, did we believe in it. Watching men around my age pulling out our old warriors gear talking about the Warriors again, felt good, we could finally have some pride in reminiscing about Run TMC.
I'd heard somewhere your politics were on point too, that you were trying to make a difference. I was hoping one day we'd meet, shoot the shit about how to make a difference with your money. We did meet face to face at one brief moment, but now, I won't get that chance again...
That 13 year old boy just lost his sports hero, is staring at his poster of you dunking over Andrei Kirilenko and wondering what to do with it. It's okay, I understand how much you want to be at home, playing for the fans you know and grew up with, you'll have a better shot at becoming an All-Star now. Now I'll just have to blame everything on LA.
Signed,
leonard
P.S.
Is this really what convinced you?
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