JD Davison identifies opportunity for him to help Boston Celtics

Former Alabama point guard JD Davison was selected by the Boston Celtics in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft after initially being projected as a lottery pick. Despite his fall down the boards, the Alabama native is bringing a unique mindset to his professional career which mirrors that of a new teammate.

During a press conference before the start of Summer League games, JD Davison spoke about his ability to impact the game on defense for the Celtics.

“In Boston, you’ve really got to play defense,” said Davison. “They were, I think, the best defense in the league. So you’ve got to come in here and be a dawg. I can help them improve on that and build it all on the defensive end.”

Davison also had high praise for new teammate Marcus Smart, who exemplifies many of the defensive characteristics he wants to obtain and leads the team on the court. The two have similar paths as former five-star guards who were drafted by the Boston Celtics and now look to hang their hat on the defensive side of the game.

The first step in that journey to make an impact comes over the next month as Davison plays on the Summer League circuit with other young players attempting to earn a spot on the regular season roster. With so much on the line for so many players, the young point guard is remaining focused on one goal.

“Just go out there, be me, lead my team to the win,” said Davison. “Four wins and then we go to the tournament. So just leading my team to wins and just go out there and have fun.”

More about JD Davison

In his lone season playing for Alabama, JD Davison played in all 33 games as the primary backup to veteran point guard Jahvon Quinerly. With that said, the star freshman did start six of those games. For his performance, Davison earned SEC All-Freshman honors while averaging 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and a team-leading 4.8 assists.

Coming out of high school, Davison was the No. 11 player nationally, top point guard and top player from the state of Alabama, per the On3 Consensus. He was one of five additions to the roster, which helped make up the nation’s No. 9 recruiting class (No. 3 in the SEC).