Glen Davis finally has what he wanted when he joined the Orlando Magic almost five months ago.

He is a member of the team’s starting lineup.

And Magic fans are embracing him. They cheer him after he swishes mid-range jumpers, grabs offensive rebounds and dives to Amway Center’s parquet floor.

After a regular season full of downs — the deaths of his grandmother and his biological father, being a bench player and a two-game suspension for an argument with Stan Van Gundy — Davis has hit his high point in the playoffs, which will continue this afternoon with Game 4 against the Indiana Pacers.

“I wasn’t producing, and now I’m producing and the fans have accepted me,” Davis said. “They see what type of player I am. They see my heart. They see the way I play the game, and they appreciate that. I’m just glad it’s come at the right time, and now they know who I truly am and what I can truly do, and that feels good.”

Listen to Glen’s Interview.

Davis started to turn a corner in mid-March after he played several strong games and seemed to accept that Ryan Anderson was starting at power forward instead of himself.

But Davis’ momentum skyrocketed after the extent of Dwight Howard’s back injury became clear. Davis, all 6 feet 9 of him, has started at center in Howard’s place, and fans love to see him scrap against much taller opponents, such as the Pacers’ 7-foot-2 skyscraper, Roy Hibbert.

This postseason, Davis is averaging 18.7 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, and he has defended effectively against Hibbert and against power forward David West. And he’s done it all on a sprained right ankle.

“He’s become a lot less me-oriented, a lot more team-oriented,” Van Gundy said.

“I think that he probably is normally a team guy. But because of the thing coming here, and thinking he was going to start and then he didn’t, he got really wrapped up into his own situation. And I think once he got out of that, and really got just focused on the team and how he could help us, he’s a totally different guy.”

As Davis has grown more comfortable with his role, he’s also become more at ease off the court.

To read more: orlandosentinel.com

IamBigBaby.com is a contributor for iambigbaby.com. Find out more by going to Lineage Publishing.

This was posted on May 7, 2012, in the News category.

Related Posts

Comments