Report: Raptors’ Terence Davis arrested in NYC for assault

Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images

Whatever the outcome of this case, the Raptors have a decision to make about Davis. As Toronto has made clear in the past: there is no room for this kind of conduct in the organization.

As reported just after midnight, the Toronto Raptors’ Terence Davis was arrested last night on assault charges in New York City. As the NY Post records, the assault is to have taken place at The Beekman Tower in midtown Manhattan. Scant other details were included in the initial report.

However, PIX11 has since reported more information — via an account from the police — this morning. Trigger warning if you don’t want to read about some all too casual and common violence.

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As per this later report, Davis is alleged to have assaulted his girlfriend last night by slapping her and then breaking her phone screen. Thankfully, as per the PIX11 account, the woman was not hospitalized.

Now for the local turn. The Athletic’s Blake Murphy has reported that the Raptors are aware of the situation and looking for more info to clarify what exactly happened. This is, of course, the matter we now have to address because it’s the reason why we’re hearing about this case at all.

I’m not going to do the usual thing and document Davis’ stats or current career situation. You can look up the details of Davis’ one year in the NBA so far to get a sense of what he meant and means for the Raptors. Unlike with a marginal player like Kay Felder, who was unequivocally cut by Toronto after his own arrest, it’s clear the team is high on Davis and wants to keep him around.

In this, it’s instructive to see how the Raptors handled the accusations levied against assistant coach Adrian Griffin. That situation didn’t involve an arrest or assault charges, but it cast a pall over not only Griffin but the decision-making of the entire Raptors organization. Where does the team draw the line they seem to want to espouse as it relates to respect for women and taking a firm stand against domestic violence?

If the Raptors are going to be defined (or define themselves) as being one of the “Good” NBA teams, then the course forward is clear: they have to move on from Davis. The organization can and will do its own investigation and satisfy their desire to discover the “true” course of events — free, perhaps, from the police’s sometimes reckless presence — whatever that may or may not be.

And then the Raptors have to come clean too. It’s disappointing — but we have to draw the line somewhere.