Glen Davis hungered to be a leader from the moment the Orlando Magic acquired him last December.

He spoke often, loudly and boldly.

But he discovered words alone weren’t enough to earn teammates’ respect.

Now, almost a year after he joined the Magic, he thinks he’s learned to “walk the walk.” Davis has emerged as the team’s steadiest player this preseason, and his coach and teammates say they’re excited about his contributions off the court, too.

“It’s like a whole different world, a whole different person,” Davis said Tuesday. “When you’ve got the organization, as far as the GM, motivating and saying good things as far as ‘keep it up,’ and you’ve got so many people behind you, that confidence grows. And you start really believing.”

via Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel