NBA Rookie Life with Ryan HollinsRookie LeBron vs Wemby, Triple-Double Controversy and Following Vince in the Dunk Contest with Ricky Davis
Ryan talks with 12 year NBA vet Ricky Davis about playing with the likes of Baron Davis, Dwyane Wade and Rookie year LeBron James. What was it like to face Allen Iverson in the playoffs, Rookie LeBron vs Wemby, following Vince Carter at the 2000 Dunk Contest and his controversial wrong rim rebound in pursuit of a triple-double.
NBA Rookie Life is a production of iHeartMedia and the NBA
How's everybody doing this? Your Mary, Ryan Hollins, I'm going to welcome you into eight. Man. Listen, man, this is long overdue. Okay, this is long overdue. A very very special episode of NBA Rookie Life. And this man was the twenty first spick in the nineteen ninety eight draft. You and I'm gonna date myself a little bit. I was in the eighth grade, but this man was so cold that he was so cold that when I came around to the league and play, I got to compete against him. One of my favorite people on the planet, one of the real ones, a real hoop junkie. Man. Let's get into it, my man. None that then, Ricky Davis, Rick, what's going on with your baby?
Man?
What's going on? Ryan?
Man?
I appreciate you having me on.
The show, man, Man, appreciate you taking your time to hold on before we get to a slicky Ricky Man? Was did it just flow? Where did the name come from?
Man?
Was this from childhood?
Man?
Give me the rundown?
Man?
Yeah, Man, childhood. You know, listen to the music. My older brother named me that slick rick the Ruler, you know. So I was just rolling with it. And then I got a.
Little bit older and they started calling me tricky Ricky. Yeah.
So you know, in the beginning of my career, I was slick rick and then towards the end, I was tricky Ricky.
See that gives you the bad name. No, rick Tricky like we all because you are one of the most honest, you know, down to earth and tricky people. Hey do did they give you second looks like tricky Ricky? Like, hey man, watch your pockets around, like what's going on?
What's tricky about you? Yeah?
Man, So everybody just named me that just because I'm fun, happy.
Always having a good time.
Man.
So uh, I think that's what a tricky came into.
It, all right, No, pretty Ricky, right was the pretty Ricky?
Yeah I wasn't a little pretty Ricky. But you know my oldest son he stole a pretty Ricky now.
So now, yeah he stole it. I let him have it.
And Rick, Man, I'll say this, I always like to give a little bit of like our history. And I think the coolest thing about me doing the podcast is that I got to get we never sit down and like talk hoop. I get to talk hoops with some of my og some of my favorite people. And I think I told you about this, Rick, but I remember you were I was in u c l A and you you were playing with Bed at the time, and y'all came down to the city and who and they was always you was a legend, bro. So it was always like, oh, tricky and town tricky. In town, we we out this Sunnen were in the gym, tricky and the gym like you came with a presence. But I remember I walked into the u c l A gym as a young buck and I seen you for the first time, and I was like, oh, that's a pro. You came down bing bing, pulled up for j hit a three, hit a miny hit a pull. I'm like, dog, Ricky Davis can shoot like and then you came down somebody threw you alive reverse that thing from half court. I was like, dog, the NBA is crazy.
It's crazy. It's crazy. And especially in that gym man at the u c l A. Uh, that's like the basketball roots history, kind of like the Rutgers type thing and just growing up in that environment, you know, with Mike, with IRV and everybody controlling those runs. When when I first came in at seventeen, eighteen years old. It was amazing. You know, I was just like you looking at all the old school Mitch Butler's and everybody.
From LA from U C.
L A. Ball and Kobe and Jordan and everybody was in there.
It was just it was amazing in a dream coming big bello.
Hold on, Slow down, Slow down. Tell me about this day when Cole, Cob and MJ sliding there.
I wasn't.
I was too young for this one. Tell me about this story, doog I ain't seen?
Yeah, yeah, man, MJ.
Kobe, they both came in there a few times. And you know when Kobe came in there, it was it was it was action. You know, he was going at everybody's dome. But I was one of those guys that didn't back up and didn't back down and came back at guys. And you know that's kind of how I got my reputation of going at guys every day. And you know, I took it serious. I took I took the summertime as as a time to get better and never lose that craft and never lose that rhythm. So for me, that was my game. And at a young age. You know, working out two three times a day was fun for me. So, uh, coming up in U c.
L A.
And then seeing Kobe in there, man, it was it was amazing. Uh, you know, we was baling, going at it. H MJ was just you know, hard to stop him and IRV And you know every time you get down the game, Mike.
Mike hold on what Mike play on Magic Team? And where they separate?
No, they were separated at that time, separated. They was going and you know Mike IRV always had his teams already. He already had his five. Yeah, he had his five already. Guys, you know that was gonna cheat that game. Point called fouls all the time, so it it was impossible to win.
All right, rick Let's let's get to your career. Man. How was they We kind of reminisced before the show. What was it a seventeen eighteen year old Ricky Davis going into the league? Man, walk me through your draft day?
Man?
What was it like? Did you have expectations? And let's actually let's start here. When's the first time you made up your mind you're going to the league. Let's go there and then talk to me about draft day. Like when was it like, you know, like I'm a league, Okay, I'm and I'm gone, or did somebody make that decision for you because sometimes you're so good you don't need to say you going. You just it's natural.
It just happens. Yeah, absolutely, and ask this a great question. You know, it all started for me in high school. You know, my senior year in high school kind of had a chip on my shoulder. I didn't get invited to the Maggie Johnson or to the McDonald's game.
But I got invited to the Maggie.
Johnson game, which was you know, the next to the magic to the McDonald's. Uh. So they had Tration McGrady, uh, Dion Glover, everybody you can think of, Baron Greedy, Daniels. Everybody was in there that was on the top notch, Tim Thomas.
Everybody was in there.
So when we went and played, I was I got invited to the game because I.
Knew IRV from playing in U c l A. So he invited me to the game.
Came down there and I got m VP matched up with Tracy McGrady and that was the year he was going to the NBA. So I said, wait, if Tracy McGrady going to the NBA at high school. Man, I think I think, I think I could make it. Uh So that was like my confidence builder right there. That that kind of took me into going into Iowa. That I think I was doing one year and done, you know. So that's where I got my confidence, and that's where I knew I'm gonna just do one year and I'm out.
Okay, taught me to draft day. Man, did you know that you were going to the Hornets? Were you excited you get that phone call? Were you tipped off a little bit? How did that go down?
Man?
Because listen, man shout out Tody Ramers or time told me I could go ten to fifty. I ended up going fifty. But it was a lot of frustration between that fifty. What was your mindset? Two of the first pick and you already got a mindset. I'm better than a lot of these cats.
Atally, man. And it was crazy because I had made my mind up. I left school early. I had Iron Tell him as my agent. My mom and them flew me down to LA and I stayed with Iron Tell them and that's when I started working out at UCLA. So they really didn't know my game. They didn't know who I was really from Iowa, you know, small town guys. So me coming to work out at UCLA kind of proved my point. Playing against Kobe Bailey and all those guys that was coming out that year kind of raised my stakes in the draft.
So I think I worked out for like twenty eight teams that summer. Yeah, man, I was I was going like state to state, the state.
The state, and I mean it was the most exhausting, but it was fun, you know, because I was bawling, I was working out, and I was I was in shape, I was ready.
I had to prove my points. So I was going to a lot of places.
Playing against Pat Garrity and Miles Simon and all these guys that were ahead of me. But I was holding my own, you know, this young seventeen year old I was. I was holding my own. So I thought I was gonna get drafted to Orlando or some other stuff in the top teen, top fifteen, and I didn't know where I was going. I kind of thought I was going second round. But I remember working out for Dave Collins for Charlotte and they had.
A whole day. By the way, I worked with Dave by the way.
Yeah, sir, oh Man, I love Dave Man, and so I never got an opportunity to play for Dave either man. He actually got drafted by Dave and Paul Silas took over, I think that next year. So I never got a chance to play with Dave. But I ended up working out with four big men and no guards, and.
I beat them.
I beat Pat Garrity and a few other posts. I can't think of the guy's name, but I beat them all in the post. So Dave Cowens was just like, I love this guy. He's a guard, he's small, but he just got hard and I guess that's stuck with him. And I didn't go to the I didn't go to the to the draft because I didn't think I was gonna get.
Drafted first round.
So I stayed home, had everybody invited, over all my teammates, and you know, the first ten fifteen picks, I didn't get picked. So I kind of disappeared, walked downstairs, walked to my bedroom, locked myself in the room, and I was just like, all what I get myself into and watching the drafts and the twenty first pick came up, and they said Ricky Davis and it was just it was a dream come true. Ran through the house. Everybody went crazy and it was a beautiful It was a beautiful night. Man, it was a beautiful night. But it was hard, man, it was. It was a lot of It was a lot of hard days, hard nights and dedication and you know, just trusting the process that day, that early age.
It was tough.
What did that do to you? You know, kind of the the anxiety because a lot of these young guys are going through this, are going to have to go through this, like not knowing if you're going to be picked, Like how did how did that kind of send you into Charlotte? Because for me, it wasn't the celebration drafted. I was steaming bro like I was here, I was happy, but I was like him, like I had a listen, what did that?
What did that do for you?
Could slick you one of the hardest workers.
Man, man, appreciate it. I appreciate it. And that's what kept me in the game, the hard work, you know, learning that stuff. My rookie year, coming in with those type of rookies that I that I came in with, they instilled that hard work and dedication.
From day one.
So I learned that from an early age.
All right, Rick, once you get drafted, you know, we know you you got game. Ricks. I'm you know, I need I need Slicky Ricky on the side right now. Who used to tear you up?
Rick?
Was there somebody that just gave you that work?
Dog?
Was this somebody that was just a headache for you to cover? Or you know, some people have an actual welcome to the League moment where you realize this ain't college no more, This ain't you know, this ain't the All Star Game.
Yeah, buddy, that this ain't it. And if that person was Bobby Fields, no rest in peace, Bobby Phiels. Uh.
You know that guy was like a Mandingo warrior man.
Uh.
You know, he was cut up, he was swollen, he had defense offense, and he just wore my little self out every day in practice, every possession, and I mean I got tougher. I mean he beat me up and at the same time, he showed me the mistakes I was making and allowed me to get better and better. And not getting drafted put that chip on my shoulder to come. I mean, you know, not getting drafted ten or eleven or twelve where I wanted to where I knew I should have got drafted. You know, it put that chip on my shoulder to go in there with that expectation of working hard and you know, trying to get better. So Bobby feels Man, he laced me from day one all the way till he passed away, you know, every day in practice. And you know, my toughest my toughest guard that year probably was Ai and Reggie Miller. You know guard, yeah, guard. Those guys man.
Were just virtually impossible.
What what was it like garden Reggie was was it you know, get your track shoes on? Was he talking trash to you? Was he you know, like we know, hey, golly wally, Reggie Reggie Miller like you? Or was he like was he a killer? Was like like dog Tim Duncan. Dog Tim Duncan cuts me out on time? Like Tim Dunkle was so nice to me the first time I played, cuss me out?
Dog? Like?
What was Reggie Miller?
Like?
We know Reggie is a killer. Like, but what was it like you as a young fella having a garden, right?
I mean it was crazy because you hear it in the Scout report.
You know, but when you get in the game and you coming off every screen, you're coming off four or five screens, pole, pop pop.
He's moving fast. He's quiet first, you.
Know, Reggie's quiet, he's getting his game on his focus. You know, as soon as he hits that first shot, oh man, it's eyeballs. He's talking noise and he was like, you know, you too late, young fella, or you just in time foul. You know, he was giving me those type of stories, so you know, to to guard that guy and come off screens like that man and chase that guy not getting shot and come back off the screen and get it shot. I mean, it was just it was it was impossible to guard no matter what kind of health defense you got. And him talking mess now and got the crowd going. It was a fun thing to play against and be a part of.
How about Garden How about Garden Ai? You know a lot of people we just hit like like relentless dog, Like walk me through the first time you guarded AI. Walk me through this one Rick, you know, because a lot of guys you be messed up from the time you see that your name on it on the board, like yo, you got I got him high.
Exactly, and you know you're gonna sub in as soon as I sub being I'm guarding ai. Oh man, okay, so we running the same thing. He running off all those screens, fast, over the loop, top of the loop, get the ball and all you hear from the sideliners you on the island, young fella, and he hits you with that pow pow pole crossover and just curings. For me, it was like whoa you know, like and I was kind of a big guard. You know, I'm not that super fast. I was fast, but I was just looking at the coach like you need to switch put a point guard on this guy, Like there is no way.
I can stay in front of him. But man, it was.
It was amazing just trying to, you know, catch him first. But when you called him, he can hit you with so many moves that it was just impossible. Would to stay in front of him.
So that that guy was like, by far one.
Of the hardest guys for me to guard.
What what what else like to me? Like I give you an example, like it was harder for me to guard Reggie Evans than Shack in the sense of when Reggie worming through screens and hating the lords every time and rolling hard like you. Nobody wants to guard Reggie, like when Reggie's in his back, but gardening shack sometimes you can. You can catch the big fellow chilling. You can catch you know what I'm saying, depending on regular season, Like was Ai that relentless like every time? Like or would you catch him chilling a little bit? Like did he give you some some moments? Yeah?
Yeah, no, Like I mean, like you said, it's a difference, like like in KD. You know, KD was one of those guys you guard, but he can give you that break.
You know, he might not chase the ball that much, but Ai, I mean he wants the ball every time. He's going to get the ball every time, and his teammates is trying to get him the ball every time. He was kind of like Garden Steph Curry, but without that without that uh uh that three point threat. And you know how hard it is Garden Steph coming off those screens and putting it down on the floor, but wanting.
A shot every time make or miss.
You know, you get some guys you guard him two three times he missed a shot, Okay, cool, I got him for a second, you know, but no.
Not this guy.
You know he missed one shot. No, no, he missed another shot. It wasn't a shot he didn't like. And it was just it was impossible to guard him. You know, you didn't have enough foules to guard.
Him for sure?
For sure. All right, Rick, let's get to the film room. Now, let's get to the NBA Ricky Life film room. This is one of my favorite segments of the show. We're gonna have some hoop talk and Rick, man, you were a part of and I want to ask you. We'll get to it. Two thousand duck contests. All right's run it. Let's run the clip here. Let's go it on, Rick, When did you know that you were going to be in a duck contest? Give me the story. Was this something you knew I gotta go do? Did the league hit you?
You know?
Were you sending the film in?
What? What was it?
What was this like for you?
Man?
Because this is back when the Dunk Contest was a dunk contest?
Yeah, it was.
It was mostly some of my veterans and you know Eddie being in the in the All Star Game that that year. You know, they seen me with all the hops. They seen me after practice working on my dunks and all the trick dunks, and you know, I was always doing a lot of my dunks in the games and practices, so you know, they seen it and they was like, young fella, you need to get in the slam dunk contest. So you know, we sent the film in and we we we started working from there and they invited me. And once they invited me, man, and it was just you know, every day I was working on my dunks and trying to get better, you know, but that feeling right there, you can't kind of rehearse.
So it was amazing, Man, it was amazing.
Okay, okay, okay, did you know when you got there? Or better yet, let me slow down, befive, get there. What made that two thousand dunk contests the greatest dunk contest in history?
Well, I think, you know, with Vince Man, I think Vince and the guys we had in it, Tracy and Steve Francis Stack, I think it was a lot of key guys in there that could really dunk and was doing a lot of these dunks in the games. You know, a lot of these guys that play and do these dunks. They don't do them in the games. So a lot of these guys that were on there this year with a lot of game game style dunkers, you know that can go out there and do the thing. But I think Vince just took it to another level. We were seeing dunks that wasn't you know, we never seen before backwards three sixties and you know everything that that that we didn't see before that we didn't see Jordan, we didn't see Dominique, We didn't see those guys doing so.
I think that we we by far had the best one.
Yeah, French corn, this front shot, Let's go home, Let's go home, Let's go home.
Did you have any idea that VC was gonna do that? What was it like being in there? Like what like did you and granted you hadn't done this before, like did you even know if to expect? Like what like when you look back, like was it like what was I doing? Like walk me just through this dunk contest? Are you looking around? Like hold on dog, Tracy?
Like yeah, it was like it was my nerves were so crazy. I mean, you know, me eighteen years old, arena full of sixty thousand people.
It was just and then I wish I could have went before Vince, you know, because though the arena was still going, you know, you see.
That dunk, the arena was still going. It was still cheering for Vince after we was dunking, you know, so it was like everybody, Yeah, Jerry went after it and I went right after that.
It was like everybody went and got the popcorn and waited till Vince came back again, following a very difficult man. But it was just it was, you know, like I said, you can't practice this, you can't recite this, and then you can't warm up like you want to because you can't go out there and show.
You dunk you want to do.
So you just kind of just gotta go out there on just you know, pure adrenaline and you know, everything that you've been doing over the years of your career.
You know.
Back they told me I should have had Baron passing rather than Eddie Jones right there. But for me, but it was a it was a great thing to be a part of man, to be a part of this kind of history, and you know, go down and I can be able to show my kids and you know, show you know, hold that legacy of you know that I was a part of.
Is there anything that we don't know about this dunk contest? Like, you know, we just watched the highlights. I watched it, you know on TV. It's a whole different than being there. What don't we know like that? That's kind of crazy. I never thought from your perspective, you going to dunk and they like.
Nce. I mean, it was just it was amazing.
Man. You people on the floor, I mean it was just like it was just like a back in the park type of thing with sixty thousand. I mean, it was just a drilling rushing. My drilling was rushing so hard, and then the Seevent's going doing that type of stuff. Man, it was just kind of like curtains once he was doing that type of stuff. To see him fly like that. You know, we already knew what he could do in the games, but to see that stuff like that was amazing.
So you stitch stuff in the left hand doing all.
This, man, that's cool stuff.
It was one of my favorites. I was I was mad that you didn't show out, Rick, But when I say one thing, it definitely puts you on the map like you were you were always the kind of like you were one of my favorite players from me. I was like, no, nah, he got bounced like he could go, like he could play, you know, like I remember, like I never and then you you were a little younger something like nah. He resonates with me like, oh, y'all like that, like like put it on the map, you know, what would you say? Is it gonna take for the NBA dunk contests to come back? I think that young bull Joe and that young bulls Ion. But I think those two young bulls ois. I think those young those two young bullsas. That's my opinion, Rick, I don't know if you agree that's my opinion.
J I think Joe.
I think everybody would love to see how far he could really jill, you know, without without the defense, you know, because he's jumping like that over the defense. So yeah, exactly right. And with Zion, everybody would.
Love to see that guy dunk so powerful.
Uh, you knows, nobody's been It.
Hasn't been a dunker that that dunkin' like that hard in a long time.
All right, Rick, Let's uh, let's let's get to it. You talked about him earlier. You mentioned him we got to talk about eighty five. He was eighty five when I played with him, BD Boom disgel Man. What was rookie Baron Davis? Like I think history forgets what Baron Davis was. Do you have a story that might let people know what Baron was and how Cody was like fresh into the league.
Yeah, Baron was electrifying. You know, Baron was big.
You know, they thought he wasn't fast, but he was very quick and you know, can get to where he needed to go, and very athletic man.
And you know b was hurt his knee earlier in his career, you know.
So could you imagine if he wouldn't have hurt his career, you know, his knee early in his career, Yeah, what what he really would have been doing. So, you know, he's got the creativity and you know, playing with that guy.
And I've been knowing barn for a long time.
You know, we actually played overseas and AAU back in ninth grade, you know together. So I've known Barron, you know, for a very long time and playing with him in U c l A all the time. And I think he's underrated as a as a guard, as one of the you know, best guards in the league, you know, with his size and athletic ability and you know.
His passing game.
It was just amazing.
What was the craziest thing you ever saw from Baron whether it was game practice or whatever. You was like, like Doug, I didn't.
Expect that, man. It was the dunk on kg oh Man.
Definitely didn't expect that, you know, and I'm if you can see it, I'm trail and I actually thought he was gonna throw it off the glass, you know, but he took off and it was one of the best plays for me right there and in person. And you know, just seeing that that guy, the way he takes off, you know, he used to take off, so that was it.
I used to love it. Yeah, he took off and that was it.
How would be the match up with the guards today, today's NBA with all the spacing and all the speed and everything, how would how would he match up with today's guards or today's game.
I think he would destroy it. And now, you know with guys you can't touch. With that big body getting in the lane, posting up guards and getting that speed, you know, he's up and down anyway moving that ball. I think he you know, he would destroy the league now with its size and his ability to get to the rim. You know, like like I said, you can't touch him now. You can't touch these days. Back in the days, you can hand check, you know, get guys off the spot a little bit. And he played through that, so I can imagine him playing now.
I got guys hang on. So Ricky got a bad rap, like a rap in the NBA from something that I think it was little. Some people think it was big. I think it's nothing. Now today you got to be the Jett Stay tuned. We'll talk about it coming up next. All right, I need a story. You're tricky, Ricky. This is a moment in history. You know where I'm going with this where you became tricky Ricky. We got to talk about it. We got to talk about it. We got clear the Aaron Man, the triple double, dog run, the clip, the triple double. What was going on? What was going on here? Give me the story with it, Ricky? You know, was this in mindset? Was was it one of your You took the heat for it, but one of your teammates are like, hey, rick go go go do this.
You know you gotta get it. Rick. Yeah, so man, it was a story to this.
It was this was like my third to fourth game away from a triple double. And this was one of them weeks where I almost had the forty five, and two weeks ago I had the forty five. Again, this was one of them weeks. I think I had maybe thirty six nine rebounds at twelve assists or it was vice versus nine assists and ten rebounds, and it was Yeah, he was doing up. And so this is like the fourth game man, and I got I It's like six minutes left in the game, and they yell out, you know, they get the timeout, they get the stats, and somebody yell out of the bench, Rick, you need one more rebound. It's six minutes in the game. And I'm like, ooh bet, I'm definitely gonna get it tonight, right, So yeah, look, I look up, it's forty five seconds left in the game. I can't get a rebound. I had the rebound. Nobody's mentioned shots shots going in. I can't get a rebound. So we had a timeout. I'm at the timeout, like, how am I gonna get this rebound?
Right?
I'm sitting there and I was just I wasn't even listening to the coach. I was sitting there for two minutes, staying, how am I to get this rebound? You're gonna throw it off the glass? Nah, you can't throw it off the glass. I said, yeah, I get throw it off the glass. And then I'm talking to myself the whole time. So I get up.
I say, Okay, I'm.
Gonna throw it off the glass, right, I said, I'm gonna throw it off the glass.
You know in the park you can throw it off the glass.
Get your rebound, Come on down with.
Hot for it to shine. How best to play? Was that a rebound for Ricky? They t to rebound? They needed a rebound for a triple double? Well they live to that side. Those head cut it off the river gravit.
Yeah, and did Shane stevenson't take defense of that? Puts the hard file on it.
They don't give him a rebound here or the credit for that place. What that's a shoppishleg of the If he knew that he needed that rebound, he had to know it.
Yeah he had.
Yeah, this gutch get out and let it go too. My man in dire need of a three triple double.
So I get the ball, laying up, get the rebound, get the ball, and was like I did that one.
Oh man, I've seen the look on everybody's face.
They come almost tackle me, all found me all hard.
Yeah. Then after the game it went all crazy.
They went crazy, start blowing up my froze and all kind of stuff, and yeah, it was crazy.
But then two weeks later Bobby Sarah does it.
They don't say anything, you know, so yeah, wow wow, Yeah. So I was chasing chasing triple doubles. I tell people, Hey, I was chasing trible doubles. Ain't nothing wrong with chasing triple doubles.
No, no, no, we did that. We had similar to Houston. You know my guy, the ball hit the glass and we got to ship it off, let him go get it. I've seen that happen for Chris Paul. Everybody shield it for Chris Ball to keep that still record. I remember watching that. Okay, what was the worst thing that happened from I remember you getting massacred on Sports Center, Bro, Like, what was the worst thing? He was like, he's sewing professional. This was a different NBA.
Rick, What what was it like?
What was the fact that it was tough? The backlash was tough. You know, I took a lot from it, and that's what I kind of you know, it was a testimony for me now because now I can go out and teach these young guys.
You know, don't do.
Nothing that can jeopardize your career in the heat of the moment. You know, don't don't do nothing now that would jeopardize you in the future, you know, because in the.
Blink of an eye. You know, I was just at the park.
You know, I'm sixteen, I'm eighteen, nineteen years old. I'm just the young kid.
You know. Just at the park han't fun. But in this game and this profession, it can't be done. It shouldn't be done. So I took that.
Just hold on, Rick, this really penalized you. Like how did this carry with you? Like, you know, we're looking at it and like we're laughing now, Like if somebody did, like, how did this penalize you?
Rick?
Like this sounds like it really stuck.
Yeah, it's stuck. It's still stuck. It's still stuck.
And it became bad.
You know, I became detrimental to.
Teams and different kind of teams. He's a loser, he's not a winner, and you know, they just it just start kind of trickling from there, you know. And and and that's what happens when you make mistakes and you do things at an early age. And you know, but at that kind of league.
Where the league was at that moment, for sure, for sure, it wasn't it wasn't no coming.
Back, and you know, you still take the backlash and you still become these this bad you know guy and in these guys eyes.
But you know it's a teaching point and learning point from me, So it's all good.
You couldn't be the furthest from it, thog, you could be. That's what was so crazy, Like I'm sure people getting there like you're the furthest like from that, like hard worker, what do we need.
To do right? Right?
And they don't know it. And some of them just read the brook by his cover on what they hear the wrong way Ricky, you know, so they take that just automatically. Yeah he's crazy, you know.
So yeah, wow, Hey, hey, I don't know if you guys noticed or not. Ricky Davis was there when rookie Lebron came and he has an interesting take on comparing the young Lebron to Young Wimby. Stay tuned, you'll hear what Tricky Ricky has to say. What was it like when the chosen went out there? Walk me to a slick because you got to see Rookie Lebron. This is like he's still playing, rick Ricky keeps kN he's still playing.
Okay, he's still man, still going.
Flashback to Rookie Lebron. Was there a moment where you were like, Yo, this dude is not stupid, Like this is crazy. I've never seen anything like it because we knew the hype. And also Ricky, like you are og you a ve you kind of had your strikes back. Did you believe in the hype? Did you believe this dude was what he was supposed to be?
Well, you know, I knew the guy was good the year before that. I mean, you know when he was in high school. You know, when I got to Cleveland, my little brother was almost playing with him in high school. So I used to go down and watch the guy's practice, and you know, he played with him for about four or five games and he ended up going to another school. But I got to see it. I've seen the guy was gonna be amazing. But the question was we all knew right away how hard it is for any kind of rookie right away to come in to change your franchise, you know. At the same time, this kid was amazing and everybody knew it, but it was just for me. It was a matter of can he stay healthy, you know, because you see a lot of rookies coming in, you see a lot of rookies going out, see a lot of rookies getting drafted. That's really really good. And you know it's a thing about the NBA. When you're good and you got a green light, you can be really good. So this kid coming in, having the size, the body, the skill set, it was it was an easy transition for me. I think for him, you know, with his body size and it's his his IQ, I think is what put him over the top the best. You know, he was always in the right spots and I don't know if that was because he was point guard in high school. You know, maybe that had a lot to do with it. That the guy would just always in the right spots on the right times and making the right place herery times.
He had a way there's the first team to jam of his career.
WHOA, he's not disappointing me. I'm telling you right now, he's got ten.
I mean all the hype I.
Was, I didn't know what to expect, but you know how to play passing rays. This guy knows in the open floor, here till you mendous corporate.
Wear and here he again, this time addishes to his trainer das.
How about that?
So he was definitely mature at his age and I love playing with him.
How would you how can we compare the hype that we've just seen with Wimby? Would you say that Lebron's was more or less? And did you ever think we'd even see something comparable to Lebron because you you got to see Lebron before he got there, once he got there? What was what was talk to me about that?
Like?
How would you compare the too? You know, how similar can they be? Because we kind of went through the whole, the whole deal last year for Winby, you know, the Winby sweepstakes. What how would you compare those two or are they even comparable?
I don't think I think they're comparable, but I really don't think they're comparable. Just for me, the times that the the game evolved and the times they came in. I think the question for everybody with Lebron was he came in at the toughest time of the NBA. He came in with when it was some real, real, amazing players in the NBA. And you know now that the game's transition, a lot of guys can play in the league now, but a lot of guys couldn't play in the league back in the day. And Lebron was one of those guys that could play in the league then and he could play in.
The league now.
So I think it's a big difference. I think Winby was He's going to be amazing with his size and his athletic ability and his IQ, I think is experditas is putting him up at a at an all time rate of being successful. Because of his IQ, you know where to go and where to be.
Rick, I tell you one thing, it's scary watching him. He's he's lou Au Cinder with wing training. He's lou Ou center on the wing bro like and it's scary, like like lou ouls down there. Who can you But if he was coming down mixing like that's we just saw him. Rick, He's like that like, and I think physically, you know, he's gonna have some hurdles, but like like he's tough, Like he's a lot tougher in there. They're like working on the correct things with him, like what challenges or if you had to give some advice to winby, what advice would you give? And you know, like how does that differ also from like you said, bron who kind of just came in seamless, you know, obviously because of the you know, the physicality or just in also the league was tough, but it was it was seamless.
Right, I think I think I think he has a great, great great I don't think he has to really mess with his physicality too much. You know, because of the way the league is set up, you can't touch him. So it's not like you can't go you can't go down there and Reggie evans him anymore. You can't go beat him up every play.
You can't.
You just can't, you know.
And yeah, I think he just needs to stay in shape as best as he can and use those summers to get stronger and stronger and stronger by playing that game.
And you know, because you don't have to be that strong these days. I don't think you know the way the game is set up and how he moves in and out and stand limber. I think he's His transition is going to be great because he can shoot, he can go inside, he can go outside, he can put it on the floor.
It's almost impossible to guard it.
Guys on the drive, no other human being, Bill has any right to dunk this one.
He takes off from the other side and makes it look easy. If he's if he's healthy, what ceiling do you put on Wimby? I'm putting you on the spot and now, slick. If he's healthy, what's our what's our ceiling with Wimby?
Uh? I see him being a.
I've seen it.
I've seen about the about the Shack numbers, maybe a little more. Uh. I don't see him with the numbers, maybe higher with the assists with Shack. But it's tough to score.
That ball year in and year out and get thousands and thousands and thousands of point. It takes.
It takes a lot of resilience and.
A lot of dedication and being in shape.
Every year and every year.
So I mean the next I think the next three four years. I think I think we can see where where he'll be. But right now I think it's got the sky's the limit. I think sky's the limit right now for him. But I see him about where those shock numbers are.
That's Oh, that's good company right there. That's good company. That's good company. Before I get you out of here, Man, you played with another Hall of Famer in one of Lebron's teammates. You know, you're kind of the buffer between two. D Wade. Man, you got a story for me?
Man?
How good?
How good was Flash? What don't we know about him behind the scene?
Well, firstus hands, y'all know how big his hands are. I think it's uh was his secret weapons. You know the way he could just move that ball. You know, because my hand is pretty big, but not so big. But you know the way he could just grab that ball and pick it up and it around. Uh.
I think that was the secret weapon that d Wade was his mix, you know, being able to capture that ball and just nobody could get it. And of of course how fast he was, his speeds, his angles, you know, that guy's plays with amazing angles.
He was just amazing to play with too. Off the dribble, I think the angle was just he created that off the pick snake the pick, you know that would be Wade.
You know a lot of guys now snaking pick and rolls. I think he was the one that kind of invented it to go back.
Against the grain of that pick and roll. And you can see those plays. He just snaking the pick.
And roll and going back around and you know he I think he invented that.
Slick. You had two stints with the Heat. They're still just pumping out wings and players and winning and like, like you know what I'm saying, Like, you know Heat culture better than most. You were a part of it. What makes it so special?
Why?
Why are they so successful? Why is the longevity there? Why does it just seem like they take undrapted guys, wrapped the guys, traded guys. Like what is so special about Miami?
The godfather pat Riley, You know, the guy's a genius and the dedication that he puts in I mean he's still there. You know, it just speaks volumes on the dedication he has and the longevity and you know the loyalty of the staff. You know, it's still the staff from when I got there. You know, so they're little, they're all together, they're all on the same page. You know, it's heat culture. They're bringing in people that, you know what they know what players want, they know what players like, and they know what players need. Uh, they know how to treat them.
You know.
It's just it's a top no organization, uh that everybody wants to be a part of. But I think it starts with the godfather, pat Riley that has you know, he's trained Eric Expo, He's trained all these guys that just was dedicated.
I was there when when a Spoe was you know, in the film room and sleeping on.
The couches, staying all night. And he was the guy that was just there every night. And just to see that guy grow and work, it was amazing to see, you know, relentless from the coach.
So hold on, So you said young was sleeping on the couches, the rebounding for y'all you got you got a spot.
Yeah, yeah, he rebounding all day.
He was there.
You know, they had uh.
Askings. Keith was there all day. You know, it was it was them guys was there, man, It was you know when you got your staff working and you know they in there sleeping and there before you get there. It's just it speaks values, you know, because you know all these teams that have these.
These this pedigree to to breed players and champions. It's amazing.
Well, rick Man, this was long overdue. We're gonna have to do it again, my brother, Thank you, Thank you for your time, man. And one thing, Man, you you blessed us here on the show. You coming and represented. Man told some some some gold nuggets we're gonna use later. But rick Man, where can we support you? Is there any charities, any foundations? Projects? You know you have cooking that we can look out for, social media tag whatever. Man, Where can the people come and rock with you?
Yeah?
Man, you can check me out on the Instagram. You can check us out on our foundation. My instagram is Tricky twelve or the Ricky Davis Legacy Foundation. You can go to the website, the Ricky Davis Legacy Foundation dot org where you can find, you know, everything that we do for underprivileged kids, the youth, communities, the homeless, all the programs that were running, all the nonprofit stuff that we're doing in the communities. You know, come support you know, you can check us out I'm a new head coach here in Minneapolis in the in the city school, uh top notche basketball program that that that I'm running over there, and you know, taking care and just giving those nuggets back to the youth. You know, I think that's an important age at that age to be able to tap into them and teach them everything they need.
To take for life skills. So you know, you can come support us at the games, you can come support us.
On online, or you know, help us with any of.
Our foundations or foundation programs. Man, I appreciate it.
And I say this, man, when we did Big Three, for those who don't know Ricky Angels talking, this man would get there early and was in the streets with the people consistently. So some cads be like, oh, yeah, that's the foundation, son. Rick is really in the streets with the people, dog like I have I have seen. If you're doing guys, you're doing guys work. Man, love you. I appreciate you for it, man, and you know, hopefully the people can come by and support man. But thank you, appreciate your time, big bro Man. Thank you again, Bro Man.
I appreciate you. Thank you so much, Ryan for having me. I appreciate you, man, and thanks for the work you're doing too, man, letting.
Everybody out here getting that sports talk and getting everything together.
Man, I appreciate it.
We need more more people like you putting us all together.
Man, I appreciate it.
Ryan, appreciate you guys. Love you guys for hanging out with me here on NBA Rookie Life with Ryan Holland's cool stuff from my guy Ricky Davis Man one of my favorite people, one of the good guys behind the scenes. But guess what, we cannot give this amazing content without you guys liking, subscribing, sharing the word, and hey, man, let us know who else you'd like to see on NBA Rookie Life with Ryan Hollins. Love you guys, and guess what we're gonna talk next week.
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