No one will ever forget the 8th seeded Golden State Warriors knocking off the first place Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the 2007 playoffs. It could have been the fact that the Mavericks had won 67 games that season, or maybe the fact that it was the Warriors first playoff appearance in 30 years. It could have even been the sea of yellow “We Believe” t-shirts that flooded the Oracle Arena and made their way across the nation, but what really stuck out was the group of nomadic misfits that brought it all together: Stephen Jackson, Baron Davis, and others banding together with young players like Monta Ellis to help the Warriors finish out the season on a 16-5 run to squeeze into that last playoff spot.
The 2008 offseason led to the slow breakup of the “We Believe” era for the Warriors. The year before, Jason Richardson had been traded for rookie Brandan Wright, and in the offseason Baron Davis opted out of his contract to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers. Fed up with the organization, Stephen Jackson and Monta Ellis expressed their criticism and their desire to leave. Stephen Jackson was eventually granted his wish to leave after he was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats on November 16th, 2009.
Baron Davis started out his Clipper career in an uninspiring fashion. He averaged 14.9 points per game; his lowest since his sophomore campaign, and 7.7 assists while shooting a bleak 37 percent from the field. Baron Davis had brought high hopes to Clipper land, joining an already talented roster in Chris Kaman and Al Thorton and emerging rookie Eric Gordon alongside defensive specialist Marcus Camby who the Clippers acquired midseason. Despite all of this, Baron and the Clippers posted a terrible 19 and 63 record, with Davis missing 17 games with various injuries. The Clippers then landed Blake Griffin with the number one overall pick, and had hope of once again making it to the playoffs. Due to recent setbacks though, Blake Griffin is going to miss the whole year due to surgery on his knee. That hasn’t stopped Baron Davis from leading the Clips to a very impressive record. Baron Davis is back on track averaging 16.7 points per game and 8.1 assists per game and taking the Clippers to a 17-20 record, only two games away from matching last years win total. That’s without the rookie sensation Blake Griffin that was supposed to transform this bad-luck franchise. Despite having a winning record at home, the western conference is unforgiving, and the Clippers are still in the 12th spot, but are only 3.5 games away from the eight and final spot. But with a motivated Baron Davis and a healthy line-up around him, things are looking up for this once unlucky franchise.
Stephen Jackson has had his share of ups and downs as well. Despite his enormous talent and upside on the basketball court, it was his troubles off the court that had teams scared. After his involvement in the brawl at the Palace when he was among the Pacers, he was traded to the Warriors in a blockbuster deal. After they’re little run, Jackson expressed his desire to leave because he didn’t like the direction this Warrior team was going. He wanted to be traded to a contender, but ended up being traded to the Charlotte Bobcats. Jackson’s impact was not immediate, but now looking back, he has transformed this team into possibly the best-looking Bobcats team in franchise history. The Bobcats are 17-19, and if the playoffs started today, they would have the 7th seed in the East. On top of all of this, Stephen Jackson is averaging career highs in points (21.1), rebounds (5.2) while averaging 3.3 assists per game. On January 12th 2010, Jackson posted both a career high and Bobcats franchise record 43 points on the Houston Rockets. Stephen Jackson has come in and turned this team around from lottery team into playoff contenders.
In the spring of 2007, the NBA witnessed something very special happen. A group of rebels that were supposed to get swept in the first round of the playoffs, defied history by beating the 67 win first seeded Dallas Mavericks. Now, Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson are both trying to once again defy the odds, this time separately, but what people don’t know, is these are two members from the Warriors pastime that never stopped believing.
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