OAKLAND, Calif. — For years, Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett were fighting side-by-side.
Now the Clippers coach and Nets big man are fighting each other — for the right to sign forward Glen “Big Baby” Davis, who was bought out by the Magic on Friday.
“I’ve been around those guys for a few years, and based on their relationships, on Doc’s relationship with Big Baby and Kevin’s relationship with Big Baby, I would say … they both have had some up and down moments with Big Baby,” Paul Pierce said with a smile before the Nets’ 93-86 loss to the Warriors on Saturday night. “But hopefully Big Baby favors Kevin as a friend in this one.”
The Clippers and Nets have become the two front-runners to snare the burly power forward, who played with Pierce and Garnett and for Rivers in Boston for the first four years of his career. Davis was a key contributor to the Celtics’ 2008 championship team as a rookie before being traded to the Magic prior to the 2011-12 season.
With the Magic in the midst of a long rebuilding process, Davis’ presence was blocking playing time for second-year big men Andrew Nicholson and Kyle O’Quinn, leading to the buyout of the final year-plus of his contract.
He’s expected to make a decision on his new home before he clears waivers and becomes a free agent Monday, and Garnett has done his best to try and convince Davis to join forces with him in Brooklyn.
“A pitch, that’s what you’d call it?” Garnett asked. “I think Big Baby can help us and obviously I voiced my opinion on that.
“I guess Baby’s a hot commodity right now,” Garnett added with a smile. “I do think he can help us. I think his basketball IQ fits into what we do here. He’s a talker. He communicates. He understands championship basketball. So yeah, he can help us.”
Pierce has been around Garnett long enough to know how persuasive he can be, and said the deep relationship Garnett and Davis forged during their time in Boston could be what swings his recruitment in the Nets’ favor.
“[Garnett’s] very convincing,” Pierce said. “When he talks, people tend to listen.
“In the situation with Big Baby, he was like Kevin’s little brother. He wasn’t just a teammate … they were really close. We all share a relationship and a bond with the guys you win a championship, but also in their situation they were really close.”
If Davis chooses to sign with another team, however, that could mean the Nets would turn to Jason Collins, another former teammate of Pierce’s and Garnett’s from Boston. Both men lauded Collins’ professionalism, and said they would be happy to have him as a teammate once again and any potential distractions from the obvious attention of Collins becoming the first openly gay player in the four major American professional sports wouldn’t be a problem.
“No, I don’t think it would be too big of an issue with our team,” Pierce said. “We have enough veterans in the locker room and really phase that out and understand we have a job to do, and to try and win games.
“We’re in the stretch run of the season, and that’s what’s most important to us.”
Garnett was even more strident, saying the only thing that should matter is whether or not Collins is still able to help a team win.
“I think it’s important that anybody who has capabilities and skill level to have a chance to do something he’s great at or one of the things he’s good at,” Garnett said.
“I think it’d be biased and, in a sense racist, if you were to take that opportunity from a person.”