By John Denton Dec. 5, 2013
NEW YORK – On Friday night, Orlando Magic forward Glen ``Big Baby’’ Davis will return to Madison Square Garden – site of the worst injury of his basketball career – as a different man.
Make that much less of a man – and that’s a very good thing in Davis’ case.
When Davis fractured the fifth metatarsal in his left foot last January on an innocent-looking play and subsequently had to endure two surgeries and 10 months of inactivity, he knew that he had to drop some weight off his massive 6-foot-9 frame if he was going to continue playing in the NBA. This wasn’t exactly an overnight revelation for Davis, who has always lived life as a big man and has been in pursuit of ways to shed pounds for years.
Fresh off a spectacular 33-point effort spread over 50 minutes Tuesday in Philadelphia, Davis will take the Madison Square Garden court Friday night as slim as he’s been in, well, almost a lifetime.
``Eighth grade. Yeah, really, it’s the lightest I’ve been since the eighth grade,’’ said Davis, seemingly shocked himself. ``This time it’s consistent (with the weight loss). There have been times when I’ve lost a lot of weight, but I’d just gain it right back. But as far as consistently staying at this weight and staying down, it’s been since the eighth grade when I was this thin.’’
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