Davis' daughter the key to his transformation

“The summer was an eye-opening experience for me, just because of losing in the Finals,” he told CSNNE.com. “Then also it comes to realization of, ‘Hey, I’ve become a father.’ I think that was one of the biggest things that really changed me.”
In June, Davis and the Celtics suffered the agony of a Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. Just as his role as a parent was about to change in a few months, so was his role as a basketball player.

“I’ll never forget,” he said, “Michael Finley told me right after dinner after Game 7, ‘Make sure in training camp, you need to establish yourself.’ I took that with me through the whole summer -- ‘Establish yourself. You need to be a force to be reckoned with.’ ”

Finley stressed to Davis that the Celtics could run the ball through him in the second unit this season. “You’re capable enough to be doing that,” the veteran said. Davis let the advice sink in. Then, it clicked.

“I thought about it,” Davis recalled. “I was just like, ‘I am. I am capable of being a post threat, being a outside shooter, being a really, really big factor on this team.’ I felt like I didn’t use all my talents to my advantage, so I always remembered that going into the summer.”

Davis set out to Las Vegas for an offseason of intense conditioning. He worked out at Joe Abunassar’s Impact Basketball and trained at the UFC headquarters, where Davis adopted the “never quit, never tap out” UFC fighter attitude. “That’s just my mentality now,” he said.
Davis says Rivers has taught him, “If you want it, you’ve got to go get it.” He wants to be a good father the same way he strives to be a good teammate.

“First of all, you have more of an animal instinct,” Davis said. “It’s like you’re defending your cub. It comes to a point where this is your livelihood. You have to feed, and you think about it in that way. Then you think about it in a way like, ‘How can I represent my child so when she looks back, she can be real proud of her father?’

“Just the mentality of being accountable, you have to be there. And that’s how you have to be for your teammates. My daughter know what she’s going to get from me every day. She’s going to get love, affection, discipline. It relates to basketball in a lot of ways, and I’ve used the mentality I have with my daughter to help my basketball game.”

Davis’ reliability off the Celtics bench has sparked Sixth Man of the Year chatter, and his improved offensive game has been a key to the team’s success.