Glen Davis Could Miss Two Months, Faces Team Suspension

Glen "Big Baby" Davis won't miss the entire season with his thumb injury, as initially thought possible. But he'll still sit for the six to eight weeks, according to Yahoo!'s Marc Spears, who spoke with Davis on Tuesday after the third-year forward underwent surgery earlier in the day.

While missing two months is certainly better than the entire year, it doesn't mean the Celtics are any more pleased about the injury, which Davis admits occurred when he threw a punch at a long-time friend after an argument escalated over the weekend.

From Spears:

Davis said the incident happened early Sunday morning when Davis' girlfriend, Jenna Gomez, one of her girlfriends and one of his high school friends were returning to his West Boston home after celebrating Gomez's birthday. Davis said he and his high school friend got into a heated debate over some "personal issues," and the friend, who was driving their vehicle, threw a punch at Davis. Davis retaliated by throwing a punch back that broke his hand.

The entire incident -- not only throwing a punch, but throwing a punch at someone behind the wheel of a vehicle -- reflects poorly on Davis, and Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck is understandably annoyed. From the Boston Globe:

"I've had enough of 'Big Baby,' so I'm going to start calling him Glen," Grousbeck told the Globe. "It certainly seems like there's going to be a suspension here."

While Davis could contest the suspension, standard language in player contracts allows for teams to take disciplinary action against a player for for fighting.

Any suspension would presumably occur while Davis was sidelined -- it wouldn't make any sense at all to leave the Celtics short-handed longer than they have to be. (Although, considering Davis' ample physique, you have to wonder just how long it'll take him to get into game shape once he is finally ready to return, although, with a hand injury, there's no reason he can't wear out the tread mill in the interim.)

Fortunately, it's not like the Celtics can't shoulder the load in his absence -- even though Davis was a productive starter by the end of last year's playoff run, a healthy Kevin Garnett and the presence of Rasheed Wallace means Davis will be little more than the second big off the bench on most nights.

But still, it's not the immediate future the Celtics need to be worried about -- it's the cumulative effect of Garnett and Wallace playing extra minutes early in the year that may cause problems down the road. That type of wear and tear completely sidelined Garnett for last year's playoff run, just as it's reduced Wallace's effectiveness in the playoffs the last several years for Detroit.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-27-2009 @ 5:49PM

Giles said...

Some friend. And some friends the Celtics are to be publicly considering suspending Davis for defender himself from someone who punched him while driving a car. Evacuate the troops from Afghanistan and Iraq and disband the US military immediately, if even self defense is no longer permissable. Let the guy who punched Davis punch the Celtics owner for a while, see if HE likes being on the receiving end of what Davis faced. A guy who has punched you while driving the car can get everyone in the car killed by not paying attention to his driving. Davis had to try to take the wheel, to save more lives than his own, if your report of events is true.

10-28-2009 @ 10:42AM

Jon said...

So, you say that someone driving a car and throwing a punch is dangerous....but someone else throwing another punch AT the driver is not?...that he is "trying to take over the wheel'...you don't consider THAT dangerous? WTF? That action is going to "save lives"? Are you kidding? What if the driver was knocked out? You really think that big fool could remove the driver, get behind the wheel and save everyone?...be the 'hero'? That is delusional thinking.

10-28-2009 @ 9:47AM

nickcherryl said...

Take all his money, the thug needs to learn that he isn't in the hood anymore, maybe he can call his brother Obama and get some Obama money.

10-28-2009 @ 3:30PM

awoosoul said...

You knew it had to happen "nickcherryl" just couldn't control himself and showed his true colors. He had to insinuate Obama was his brother and get his "two cents" in about Obama money. What nonsense and has nothing to do with basketball (the right-wing nut jobs make everything political). And as far as the "hood" goes do you really know where Davis grew up and anything about him. You are a typical loudmouth with big-time racial overtones trying to somehow place yourself above a certain race of people. Well here's a little white boy who's calling you what you really are "just another jerk trying to sound relevant". And it's pretty obvious, you're NOT.

10-28-2009 @ 4:43PM

Davis trying to defend himself and the other passengers did not cause the danger. The guy punching him caused the danger. Davis just had to try to cope with a very bad situation. If there had been a way to avoid being punched by the driver, it would have been preferable, but that was the reality, the driver made the violent, dangerous choice, it would be delusional to think otherwise.

10-29-2009 @ 10:09AM

hulk411 said...

davis threw the punch at him while the guy was driving, what a freaking idiot. the guy threw a punch at davis while he was driving. they are both morons and yes suspend him, thi didn't happen during basketball and he's gonna miss 2 months. yes suspend him