If a professional athlete sustains an injury during regular season, preseason, or even practice, it’s bad, but somewhat expected, and most definitely part of the business of sports.

It’s a different story when it happens off the field of play, when a player is engaged in some questionable activity that leads to a serious, even season-ending injury.

Enter Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

Davis, the Celtics backup center, is an integral part of a team trying to win another NBA championship.  He provides quality minutes in place of starting center Kevin Garnett.

But he won’t be doing any of that for a long, long time.

Seems “Big Baby” injured his right thumb, possibly fracturing it, an injury that may require surgery…which would put him out for the year.

But here’s where the story gets vague.  Sources say Davis sustained the injury during an altercation with a former teammate who had flown up from Louisiana.  Apparently Davis was defending himself.

The club has been apprised of the situation…and they’re not pleased.

Maturity seems to be an ongoing issue with Davis.  And this doesn’t help the perception that Davis is just an immature, overgrown man-child.  The guy should know better than to do anything the least bit dangerous away from the basketball court.

Last year he bawled on the bench after a Kevin Garnett verbal assault, and now he may have put himself out for the year doing who-knows-what with an ex-teammate.  If anyone has ever truly earned their nickname, it’s “Big Baby.” [Boston Herald]