National Post (National Edition)
Davis charges must be handled with care
Club risks hypocrisy after much good faith
There are so many reasons to admire the Toronto Raptors. Part of it is how they compete year after year as an NBA contender, with varying rosters, and now as a former champion. Part of it is how they conduct themselves, professionally and elegantly, being first and foremost with social causes and Black Lives Matter and Giants of Africa and equal rights for women and seemingly in areas far more important than basketball.
Which brings us to Terence Davis, who is still a Raptor, will be part of training camp in Tampa, and will likely be part of the season when it begins at the end of the month. And it is his presence alone that sends the worst of all possible messages to those who care about the Raptors.
It says the Raptors will stand up for what's right, just not necessarily when it affects them.
It says the Raptors will proudly wave flags for all the issues that matter, but when it involves one of their own, a young, promising, secondyear player of some magnitude, who was arrested in late October and charged with several counts of assault — essentially charged with domestic violence — they either say nothing, trip over their own words, or try to say they are respecting the process here.
“We take this incredibly seriously,” said general manager Bobby Webster, speaking in his initial Zoom interview of the coming season. “We need to be respectful of the process. We've obviously had our conversations with Terence. We've done as much due diligence as we can.”
They haven't done what the Blue Jays did or Major League Baseball did when Roberto Osuna was charged with several counts of domestic violence rather early in the 2018 season. The Jays essentially distanced themselves from Osuna and baseball almost immediately suspended him for as long as it could under its collective bargaining agreement.
When the Osuna suspension was about to end, the Jays traded him to Houston. He never pitched again for Toronto.
Charges against Osuna were dropped in late September of that season, ostensibly because the woman Osuna allegedly assaulted would not testify against the father of her children. That is not at all uncommon in situations of domestic violence. Just because charges are dropped or impossible to prove in court doesn't mean it didn't happen or that the perpetrator didn't commit assault. It just means the justice system has flaws when it comes to dealing with the complications of domestic violence and even more than that, human relationships are complicated and making cases that will stick in court may be even more challenging.
According to the police report of the October night in question, the apparent victim alleges that she went to visit Terence Davis in his New York hotel room and that the two got into a dispute. The victim indicated she was then punched in the face, before being grabbed by Davis, who then broke her phone.
By definition, a person is found guilty of assault in the third degree in New York, if they intentionally or recklessly cause injury to another person or if they are criminally negligent with a weapon.
The Raptors waited a few days after the Davis arrest before making any comment at all. Their initial silence was uncomfortable. Then they released a rather innocuous statement, not really saying anything that mattered. In Webster's availability on Tuesday he was asked a limited number of questions about the Davis situation, including whether he thought the team was acting hypocritically by bringing him back for his second season.
Webster's answers weren't exactly clear — with this proviso,
his background is in basketball, not in social matters such as this.
He was clear, though, that in his mind the Raptors had done their due diligence on the matter, which is now in the hands of the NBA and the NBA Players Association. “We've done as much due diligence as we can,” he said. “That may feel a bit unsatisfying but we need to be respectful of the process.”
No one in Toronto seemed to care much about the process when Osuna won a World Series with the Astros. It wasn't thought about as a lost opportunity. It was more like: who cares about Osuna anymore?
Most people seemed more pleased that he was no longer associated with Toronto or the Blue Jays.
It's entirely possible the Raptors won' t play any games in Toronto this season, having been forced to move elsewhere as COVID-19 continues to play havoc with our lives and their lives. And Davis won't have to worry about crossing the border with legal restrictions of any kind.
Potentially, Davis is another undrafted find for the Raptors, having scored 31 points and 20 points in games last February and having shown great energy and athleticism on the court. He has considerable talent. The basketball court works for him.
And that isn't the court that matters right now. His next court date in New York is Dec. 11. Maybe then the Raptors will say something or do something that matters. Maybe then, maybe not.