Antonio Davis

infobox NBA Player
name = Antonio Davis
nickname =

---

position = Power forward/ Center
height_ft = 6 | height_in = 9
weight_lbs = 245
nationality = American
birth_date = birth date and age|1968|10|31
birth_place =city-state|Oakland|California
college = UTEP
draft = 2nd round, 45th overall
draft_year = 1990
draft_team = Indiana Pacers
career_start = 1990
career_end = 2006
former_teams = Panathinaikos (1990-1992)
Philips Milano (1992-1993)
Indiana Pacers (1993-1999)
Toronto Raptors (1999-2003, 2006)
Chicago Bulls (2003-2005)
New York Knicks (2005-2006)
awards = 2001 NBA All-Star
halloffame =

Antonio Lee Davis (born October 31, 1968, in city-state|Oakland|California, USA) is a retired American National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Davis is also the former president of the NBA Players Association (NBPA).

College career

Davis played college basketball at UTEP under coach Don Haskins from 1986 to 1990.

Pro career

Europe

He was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in the second round, 45th overall of the 1990 NBA Draft. Davis initially went on to play with professional teams in Europe, rather than play in the NBA. He played with the Euroleague giants Panathinaikos from 1990-92 and with Philips Milano of the Italian League during the 1992-93 season.

NBA

In 1993, Davis returned to the United States to play in the NBA when he signed with the Pacers as a free agent. Antonio was part of the "Davis Brothers" tandem of power forwards on the Pacers alongside the other "Davis Brother" Dale Davis. Despite being the team's 6th man, Antonio was paid starter's money and he provided a lot of scoring and rebounding punch off the bench, much to the popularity of the Pacers' fans and coaches.

During the 1999 off-season, Davis was traded to the Toronto Raptors on draft day for the 5th pick of the 1999 NBA Draft, which the Pacers used to draft Jonathan Bender. In the 2000-01 NBA season, Davis was elected to the NBA All-Star Team for the first and only time in his career. During the 2003-04 NBA season, he was traded to the Chicago Bulls, where he fit in well as a veteran influence on a young team. Just before the start of the training camp of the 2005-06 NBA season, Davis was traded along with Eddy Curry to the New York Knicks for Michael Sweetney, Tim Thomas and Jermaine Jackson.

Fan incident

On January 18, 2006, Davis was ejected from a Knicks-Bulls game for going into the stands and confronting a fan he alleges was intoxicated and abusive. He said he was concerned about his wife, whom he thought he had seen falling back and being touched by the fan. His wife claims that the fan was using inappropriate language around the Davises' child, and that she had asked him to stop, which then prompted harassment from the fan. Though public opinion allegedly swung in Davis' favor, the NBA suspended him for five games on January 19. The fan in question, Michael Axelrod, the son of David Axelrod, the 2008 campaign manager for Barack Obama, has stated that he was attacked by Davis' wife, and his lawyer revealed plans to sue for roughly a million dollars and a public apology by the Davises. Mr. Davis responded by stating, "I'm not apologizing to anybody for anything." On January 23, Davis and Axelrod settled their disputes outside of court, issuing the following joint statement.

"It's clear that the episode at the United Center last week, and its aftermath, evolved from some misunderstandings. This has produced regrets from all parties involved. Common sense strongly suggests that we collectively put this episode behind us and move on. That's what the Davis' and Michael Axelrod plan to do, and we hope everyone else will, as well." [ [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2006-01-23-davises-fan_x.htm?POE=SPOISVA Davises, fan settle differences after Knicks-Bulls incident.] ]

On February 3, 2006, the Toronto Raptors traded Jalen Rose, a first round draft pick (from the Denver Nuggets), and an undisclosed sum of cash (believed to be around $3 million) to the New York Knicks for Antonio Davis. Davis went on to start eight games for the Raptors before missing the next twelve with an ailing back injury. On March 23, 2006, Davis was released by the Raptors after his injury was diagnosed by the team's doctors as being season ending.

United States national basketball team

Davis played for the Team USA at the 2002 FIBA World Championship. [ [http://www.usabasketball.com/history/mwc_2002.html 2002 USA Basketball.] ]

Post playing career

Davis was elected the President of the NBA Players' Association at the union's annual convention on June 28, 2005.

References

External links

* [http://www.nba.com/historical/playerfile/index.html?player=antonio_davis NBA.com historical player file]
* [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/antonio_davis/ Antonio Davis playerfile] @ NBA.com
* [http://www.basketpedya.com/Acc002InfJug.php?idjug=2835&idioma=3 Full career Basketpedya.com]
* [http://www.nbpa.com National Basketball Players Association site]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=260118004 Story on January 18 incident]