It’s easy to forget now, but there was a time when Ricky Davis was one of the most promising young guards in the NBA. He never made an All-Star Game, but he averaged 20.6 points per game in 2002-03 with Cleveland, and he averaged more than 19 two other times in his career.
Davis is perhaps most remembered for shooting on his own hoop, with his team up by 25 and six seconds remaining in the game, in an attempt to register his first career triple-double. Davis had 26 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. It did not go over well with the Jazz, his competition.
Davis is now one of the most well-known former players competing in the BIG3, Ice Cube’s new three-on-three basketball league. He spoke to Sports Illustrated about the league and said he loves the modern NBA. He says, though he has no plans to make a comeback, he would thrive if he played in today’s era.
“I would have put my head down and gone straight to the basket,” Davis said. “I would have gotten to the line 20 times a game.”
As for the players Davis likes watching the most?
“I enjoy watching Steph Curry, how he’s changed the game,” Davis said. “He actually started this four-point play stuff that Ice Cube’s got going on. I definitely enjoy watching Steph, LeBron. Westbrook is like a freak of nature. It’s just amazing how the game has changed. It’s amazing how everyone is chasing triple doubles like me.”
If you watched Westbrook play this year, you know what Davis is talking about. Westbrook became the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season (Oscar Robertson, in 1962, was the other). Westbrook also set the single-season record for triple-doubles with 42.
Westbrook, who some think will be crowned MVP Monday, put up jaw-dropping numbers: 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 10.4 assists per game. Many who watched him, however, claimed he was intentionally chasing numbers at the detriment of his teammates and his team’s success.
BIG3 will hit 10 cities this summer, starting at Barclays Center in Brooklyn Sunday afternoon.
