— John Brisker (@JohnBrisker2021) September 23, 2023
“I got drafted when I was 17. I never really learned the good ways and the bad ways. … It’s bad that it’s still on me, but it’s OK,” he said, before adding with a chuckle, “I’m glad to be remembered for a triple-double. That’s OK. A triple-double’s good.” – Ricky Davis in a 2014 interview while playing in the D-League
I have a soft spot for amazingly talented and athletic high-flying knuckleheads that had all of the tools to be great but just weren’t the “sharpest tool in the shed.”
Tyree Ricardo “Ricky” Davis, aka “Get Buckets,” is a poster child for the type of player I’m talking about.
From day 1 with the Charlotte Hornets, Davis was a common sight on NBA Inside Stuff’s Jam Session and SportsCenter’s top plays. And with running mate Baron Davis, I thought the Davis Boys were going to be a two-man nightmare for defenders for years to come. Well, Get Buckets was a nightmare to guard, but he became most known in the league for being a player that was supposedly a nightmare to play with and coach, although Pat Riley once said he regretted trading Davis and that he was never a problem.
THE TRIPLE DOUBLE
There are a couple of infamous plays that come to mind when mentioning Davis. One is the almost triple-double in 2003. With seconds left in a 25-point win against the Utah Jazz, Davis intentionally missed a shot at his team’s own basket so he could record a triple-double. The triple-double didn’t count; he was fined by the Cavs and given the nickname “Wrong Way Ricky” for his attempt at stat padding.
“I did some bad things, but the only thing I regret is my triple-double.” Said Davis in 2011 interview while playing in the NBDL. “But everything else comes with experience. People forget I got drafted when I was 17, so I had a lot of young ‘myself-myself’ attitude, and now it’s more about being part of a team, and more of what I can do to help the team.”
THE BETWEEN THE LEGS DUNK
Davis found himself in Bean Town the next season, where he is mostly known for missing a between the legs dunk in the middle of a game. Lucky for Davis, he was able to get the rebound, that counted, and score in classic Davis fashion with a windmill dunk.
The sequence had legendary broadcaster Johnny Most furious:
“Come on, Ricky. Stop that nonsense. That’s nonsense, Ricky! Go make the basket! Forget the show!”
In Davis’ defense, he can throw down between-the-legs dunks in his sleep, and during the 2000 NBA dunk contest, he became the first person ever to pull off a between-the-legs two-hand reverse dunk. The underrated first is rarely mentioned, but the same goes for when he did pull off a between-the-legs dunk in the middle of a game with the Cavs. Since that was the Pre-LeBron Cavs, nobody noticed or cared.
MY FAVORITE DUNK: “OH S**T!”
As evident from the “Top 100 Ricky Davis Dunks” montage below, there’s a lot to choose from. My pick is going to go to the one that had him in such shock that he started yelling, “Oh s**t!” afterward.
“(Steve Nash) just kept on backing up. And I was just like, ‘Ooh. I’m gonna take off,” Davis said on Forgotten Seasons. “If you slow the film down, I almost broke my neck. So the ‘Oh s**t.’ If you slow it down when I’m dunking, I almost was going down, but as I’m coming off my left-hand grabs the rim, and it straightens me out. So I’m going down as I dunk it, I was going down, and it straightened me up. And I come down like, ‘Ohhh s**t!’ I don’t know what Steve was thinking.”
Well, I do.
“I dare him to try that again,” Said a joking Nash on POSTERIZED. “I didn’t know he was going to try to dunk it. I would have blocked it.”
STILL GETTING BUCKETS
Davis spent three seasons in Boston, then jumped around to the Twolves, back to the Heat, and then to the Pre-CP3 Clippers. He then took his talents overseas, playing in countries such as Turkey, China, France, and Puerto Rico before returning to the United States to play with the Erie BayHawks in the D-League.
Earlier this year, I saw his name on a flyer for a Church Celebrity basketball game in Sugar Land, TX. I went to the game hoping to see and speak with Davis, but he, along with every name on the flyer, was a no-show for the Church scam. I left disappointed, went home, and then searched for Ricky Davis on YouTube. Thirty minutes later, I was still watching Davis highlights and felt the same joy I felt watching him almost hit his head on the rim in 1998.
Some of Ricky’s best games:
- 45 PTS (16/33 FG, 6/8 3PT), 8 REB, 5 AST
- 42 PTS (17/26 FG, 5/8 3PT), 8 AST, 3 STL, 0 TO
- 42 PTS (5/9 3PT), 6 REB, 5 AST
- 38 PTS, 9 AST, 7 REB
- 37 PTS, 11 REB, 9 AST
- 36 PTS (14/17 FG)
- 33 PTS (9/12 3PT), 8 AST
- 32 PTS (12/15 FG) IN 30 MINS
2018 UPDATE: THE BIG 3
You can now catch Davis getting buckets and still dunking in Ice Cube’s BIG 3 league.