Teaming up with fellow future NBA-All star Tim Hardaway, Davis helped the Miners win 25 games and earn the seventh seed in the 1987 NCAA tournament as they defeated the number ten seed Arizona in overtime by a score of 98–91; they would, however, lose in the second round to Iowa by a score of 84–82.

[3][4] In 1993, Davis returned to the United States to play in the NBA for the 1993–94 season when he signed with the Indiana Pacers as a free agent.

The Pacers then returned to Indianapolis with the chance to clinch the Eastern Conference title but lost both game six and the series.

As with their first and second-round opponents, the Pacers played a young talented Orlando Magic team led by Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway in a rematch of the previous postseason.

The Pacers entered the season as a heavy favorite because Michael Jordan had retired and other members of the Chicago Bulls were broken up by their management.

On August 1, 1999, Davis was traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for the 5th pick of the 1999 NBA draft in high schooler Jonathan Bender.

He averaged 11.5 points, 8.8 rebounds with 1.3 blocks for the Raptors as they won 45 games and advanced to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history where they faced a strong, talented New York Knicks team now led by Ewing, Latrell Sprewell and Allan Houston in the first round.

That season the Raptors won 47 games, good enough for second place in the Central Division and advanced to the playoffs for the second year in a row, where they faced a talented Knicks team led by Sprewell and Houston and no longer featured Ewing.

In the second round, the Raptors matched up against the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers led by league MVP Allen Iverson and defensive lynchpin Dikembe Mutombo.

Although they regressed from 47 wins from a year ago to 42, the Raptors still advanced to the playoffs for the third year in a row, where they faced their Central Division rivals (also great lakes rivals) the Detroit Pistons led by All-star Jerry Stackhouse and rebounding specialist Ben Wallace in the first round.

That season, he was traded to the Chicago Bulls, where he fit in well as a veteran influence on a young team that included Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry and Kirk Hinrich, although his overall averages decreased from previous years Davis continued to be relied on for his scoring, rebounding and shot-blocking and in the 2004–05 season, Davis averaged 7.0 points with 5.9 rebounds for the season as the Bulls won 47 games and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since 1998 where they faced the Washington Wizards led by Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison, and Larry Hughes in the first round, the Bulls would lose to the Wizards in six games.

That summer Davis was elected the President of the NBA Players' Association at the union's annual convention on June 28, 2005.

Just before the start of the training camp of the 2005–06 season, Davis was traded along with Curry to the New York Knicks for Michael Sweetney, Tim Thomas and Jermaine Jackson.

On January 18, 2006, Davis was ejected from a Knicks-Bulls game for going into the stands and confronting a fan he alleges was intoxicated and abusive.

The fan in question, Michael Axelrod, the son of David Axelrod, the 2008 campaign manager for Barack Obama, has stated that he was attacked by Davis' wife, and his lawyer revealed plans to sue for roughly a million dollars and a public apology by the Davis family.

"[6] On February 3, 2006, Davis was traded back to the Raptors for Jalen Rose and a first-round draft pick (from the Denver Nuggets), and an undisclosed sum of cash (believed to be around $3 million).

Davis played for United States national team in the 1989 Tournament of the Americas and 2002 FIBA World Championship, winning the silver medal in the 1989 event.

In 2019, through his Attorney, Antavius Weems, Davis announced that he was divorcing his wife, Kendra, stating that they both had decided to move on.