Former Golden State Warrior and current Cleveland Cavalier Baron Davis wants to mentor Kyrie Irving, but do the Cavaliers even want that kind of relationship between their current point guard and their point guard of the future? Davis' perception of himself as a mentor should alarm the Cavs, especially given the fact that Davis rarely made himself accountable to the Los Angeles Clippers. Injuries and a poor work ethic defined Davis' tenure as the Clippers "star" player and the Clippers gave up a first round pick just to get rid of him. Sadly, Davis' interest in mentoring, however, seems to say less about Irving's future than what it says about Davis' own self-preservation in the face of his irrelevancy.
"(I can) go out with a bang and know that I'm leaving the game in good hands."
From comments such as these, Davis' propinquity is about acknowledging his own irrelevancy by anointing himself as a future member of the NBA's great elder statesmen like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Bill Russell, et al. Case in point, at one point last season, analysts claimed that Davis only felt inspired to play at all because he had a rising star in teammate Blake Griffin to which he could attach himself to. We all know that Davis has no long-term future with the Cavs, either. Clearly, Davis recognizes this and is trying to position himself somewhere in the NBA pantheon of past, present, and future stars in a profession that thrives off new, up and coming talent to market and sell.
Known to be selfish, Davis' is about making sure he is spoken in the same breath as possible future star Kyrie Irving, much the way Davis allegedly did with Griffin in Los Angeles. Davis' generosity seems a bit suspect, if not a bit sad. Perhaps Davis has been humbled by his sudden drop from star starter to back-up and is now willing to be the veteran to help younger players. But one has to wonder if Irving doesn't end up being the star the Cavs think he will be, how long until Davis relinquishes his mentoring duties? And how much further will Davis fall into obscurity?