Baron Davis Press Conference

Baylor

Opening statement…
"Speaking for our owner Donald T. Sterling and the entire Clippers organization, we are very excited about the fact that Baron is going to be with us for many years to come. We would like to say, ‘Welcome home, Baron.’"

Davis

Opening statement…
"First of all, I would like to thank God for the opportunity to be here and continue with my dream and my journey of playing basketball. To the entire Clippers organization – Mr. Sterling, Mr. Baylor, Coach, Andy, everybody - I really appreciate the opportunity that you took by taking a chance on me."

"For me it (coming to the Clippers) wasn’t really a money issue. It was more about being rich in your heart and having an opportunity to impact the community, to impact the city and the kids. Being from Los Angeles, I felt that the most important thing for me to do was to come back and play basketball in my hometown so that I can inspire a lot of kids that grew up with the same vision and the same goals that I had. Now they see somebody that they can actually touch, they can feel, they may see day-to-day – anywhere from South Central to Malibu. On the court it’s going to be fun, fun, fun. We’re going to do some winning. We want a championship here, and I know that’s why they brought me. This is the start of a new generation."

"I thank you all for coming. I thank my family and friends for being here to support me. Great things are going to come. I’m just happy to be here. I really, truly am happy to be here. There’s no place like home, and I’m glad to be back here. Thank you all."

On how emotional this day is…
"It’s very emotional. I had a hair cut at 6:30 (this morning). I was up at 6:00 doing push-ups and sit-ups, I was ready to go. To come home and to be in a place where your dream first started; and to be fifteen minutes away from where my grandfather built my first basketball court when I was four years old; and to have an opportunity to come and play for a great organization that has been in Los Angeles ever since I was born; and play for a team that I’ve watched and snuck into the Sports Arena just to get a taste of NBA Action; and to be back home and play in the NBA is truly, truly a dream come true."

On being a role model for Eric Gordon and Al Thornton…
"First and foremost is to help them find their own identity in the league and to push them to be great beyond that. Seeing what coach sees in them, that’s my job. To get them going, make sure that they’re better and to help them along the way, along the bumps and the bruises that they’re going to endure throughout the NBA season and try to repair that so that their transition can be a lot smoother."

On being the face of the franchise on and off the court…
"The way I look at the Clippers organization is that it’s an organization of real people - people who are in the community doing great things. Off the court I want to continue to do things in the LA City community. I want to be able to bridge gaps between kids of all walks of life and let them know that we all have struggles and hardships and that the only way to get through it is hard work. To come to LA and be a positive role model I think that’s the most important thing that I want to do. I know that I can do it here with this organization behind me."

On being in the "Entertainment Capital" of the world…
"It’s great to be home. The whole Hollywood thing and producing is great, but basketball is first and foremost. They gave me an opportunity to be around my friends, and I’m in business with my friends and they do a great job doing what they do best. Being here is a life that will take a shape of its own, but basketball is my main priority. I’ll let my friends and the people that I work with take care of the rest."

Roeser

On Davis being the biggest free agent signing in franchise history…
"It is to date, but the summer is not over. You never know what the future holds for us. We’re thrilled to have him. I think this is the beginning of the Baron Davis era for us."

Dunleavy

On changing the Clippers’ style of basketball with the new team personnel…
"First of all, Baron plays every style. He’s a power point guard. He pushes the ball anywhere he wants it to go on the floor and he has a great post game. With his versatility and his ability, there’s nothing on the floor he can’t do. Obviously for some of our guys it’s going to be the first time they play with a point guard who can really make plays and create situations for them. He’s got the ability to go coast-to-coast and he’s a great rebounder. He rebounds, he posts up, he can defend, switches the ball, he’s got such great strength and he gets anywhere he wants to go on the court. With the guys that we have we want to play up tempo, but we’re not afraid to play in the half court. We can do what we need to do at both ends."

On Davis being the biggest free agent signing in franchise history…
"Absolutely."

On the ease of signing Davis…
"What makes you think it was easy? We had one big thing on our side, and that was Los Angeles. We provided him the opportunity to go home and play in front of his friends and family. The situation that looked to be incredible – how he was going to fit into what we thought we would have in place. That’s changed a little bit, but we’re looking to change it back to where we thought it was going to be, and I’ve got a lot of confidence that by the end of the summer that it will be there again."

"The two toughest pieces to find in this league are a point guard and a center. The true teams that really win are the ones with the great point guards. Baron’s been in the playoffs six out of his eight years in the league, he’s got plenty of experience on how to steer a team in that direction. We’ve got a lot of young talent and we’re ready to go."

"If you look at the West and the point guards that are in the Western Conference, you say to yourself, ‘Wow. How am I going to compete?’ When Baron opted out of his deal, I was in New York meeting at 12:01 with Beno Udrih and I was thinking the way we were going to go was with Beno, Corey Maggette and Elton Brand. Then Baron opted out, changed up the opportunity and then things happened from the stand point of money being available in order to be able to sign him and we went for it."