Baron Davis is probably one of the most interesting people in the world because of his dual interconnectivity to basketball, business and technology.
Post-career, the retired 13-year NBA vet is the founder of several companies, including Sports, Lifestyle in Culture (SLiC), Business Inside the Game (B.I.G.), UWish, and More Than Us; each to combine creative talent with original publication and production to develop and provide educational and empowering stories that appeal to global audiences of all ages.
In between running his thriving business, Davis checked in with Scoop B Radio at the launch event of Black Box Franchising.
Founded by Daren Hawthorne, Jae Sims and Kika Wise, Black Box’s mission is to help small business owners become franchisors by converting their businesses into franchises.
In between speaking to the masses, at Black Box, Davis shared his thoughts on the upcoming NBA season, roster moves and discussed more.
Davis also shared his Mount Rushmore of athletes turned businessmen. “I would say Magic [Johnson], ” said Baron Davis to Scoop B Radio.
“Michael Jordan because he is the business AND the brand. Steve Young does a helluva job. I would also say Jose Bautista is another one and then Shaquille O’Neal. That would probably round it out.”
Speaking of Magic Johnson, Davis, a product of South Central Los Angeles, says that his relationship with Johnson began as a child when he’d watch him play pickup games.
Watching the five-time NBA Champion playing in open runs across the city and at UCLA inspired him. “As a kid you got a chance to sneak in the gym and watch pros train and get ready for the season,” he said.
“So that was amazing to just be there all the time and then to earn your way to Magic Johnson speaking to you know is like another notch under the belt. It was like, If I can get attention from Magic, then that means I’m on my way! And he’s always been a big brother and mentor to me. An ally, but also someone who saw the talent in me way before everyone else.”
Being an LA kid, Davis shared that he’s always been a Lakers fan growing up, despite ultimately playing for the Clippers later in his career.
“Lakers for life,” he said. “I grew up on Magic Johnson and Nick Van Exel. I would say the Clippers are always number #2 but, the Clippers were ALWAYS cool, like Pooh Richardson; UCLA legend played there for the Clippers, so I had special access sometimes; but the Lakers is synonymous with L.A. with that purple and gold and Dr. Buss laid the foundation. I think for this new foundation and these new kids, the Clippers got a chance because they’ve been successful. Super successful. Not championship successful but over the last 10 years they’ve been highly competitive and building teams that are considered preseason contenders and the Lakers only have one championship in those 10 years.”
While chatting with Scoop B Radio, Davis discussed his wish list of NBA players that he could have played with and one Hall of Famer came to mind: Shaquille O’Neal. “Everybody wants to play with Shaq,” he said.
“Shaq is a cheat code and Tim Duncan is a cheat code too! For a point guard, you always want to play with a dominant big man because that’s where you’re stable at especially in my era and then you have the Tim Duncans and and the Dirks all these big guys that were super potent and defensively, Tim Duncan was just one of my all time favorites. Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most dominant centers ever so that would be for me it would be kind of making my job easy.”
Bronny James was drafted by the Lakers back in June. Davis weighed in on how Summer League prepared him heading into his rookie season. “ I always say that the Summer League is always the hardest thing to do because you’re just getting thrown into the fire,” he told Scoop B Radio.
You’re practicing hard, you’re working hard; you really don’t know how much work you need to put in because you’re so anxious and so giddy getting into the league, you know what I mean? And then you’re tired all the time, you’re playing every day and everybody on the team is trying to impress somebody so, you can’t really play your game or figure out your game and the goal for Summer League is to go out there and have fun and make mistakes. So you can’t really judge people too much on bad performances, good performances because basketball is a rhythm. And to answer your Bronny question, it’s gonna get a lot harder. Summer League is like scratching the surface, you know what I mean? When you get into training camp and when you get into the season he’s gonna get better and be on a team where they have player development where they have great players; his dad is a great player; he’s gonna get better. He obviously shows that he has the athleticism and the talent, but now it’s up to him to figure out who he’s gonna be in the league, right? It’s all about identity. If he can identify himself as Bronny James and this is what I do, he’s gonna be successful.”
Keeping it LA, Davis who played for the Clippers for three seasons and is currently talent on the team’s Direct-to-Consumer ClipperVision network shared his thoughts on Paul George leaving LA and joining the Philadelphia 76ers via free agency this offseason.
“Paul George is my dawg,” Baron Davis tells Scoop B Radio.
“That’s my brother and so I’m always player-first.”
The Clippers still do have a roster with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden as the focal point of their team.
Harden was acquired via trade by the Clippers early last season. While effective in Philly next to Joel Embiid in the City of Brotherly Love, his role in LA was different alongside George and Leonard last year.
“Sometimes it could be a blessing in disguise,” Baron Davis tells Scoop B Radio.
“Because it forces you now to actually play through Kawhi and James Harden. So you have two superstars and you pick up some good players in free agency and I think they signed a sleeper in free agency which is Kevin Porter Jr.”
Leonard has only played in a combined four playoff games in the last two seasons after missing the entirety of the 2021-22 season with a torn ACL. Three of the five seasons, Leonard was teammates with PG-13.
With the Clippers opening up at Intuit dome next month, Davis is excited that the move could help re-shape the narrative that LA is simply a Lakers town. “They have an opportunity to better their brand now that they’re going into the Intuit Dome and really establish themselves,” he said.
But, as far as now? They are always going to be number two. It goes: Dodgers, Lakers, Kings, Rams… you know? So it’s a lot of competition but as far as basketball, the Lakers are synonymous with L.A.”
Davis also spent three years with the Golden State Warriors as was the face of their We Believe era of basketball. Davis shared that he was disappointed to see Klay Thompson leave They Bay and join the Dallas Mavericks, but he understands that basketball is a business.”That was heartbreaking because you always want to see those dudes stay together for what they accomplished,” shared Davis to Scoop B Radio.
“And you want someone like Klay Thompson to play with one team; you know, in the NBA the goal is to play with one team your entire career and for those three guys Klay, Steph and Draymond to see them go from babies to grown men to now veterans, it was kind of heartbreaking but at the same time I’m always player-first and so, whatever’s best for Klay and I think that he’s going to get an opportunity to start in Dallas and play with two potent scorers that’s going to open up a lot of opportunities and he’s gonna get a lot of wide open shots.”
Joining the Mavs does have perks. Klay joins the reigning Western Conference Champions that includes a Hall of Famer in head coach Jason Kidd and future Hall of Famers in Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Thompson will be relied upon to hit clutch shots and the team will likely lean on his veteran presence also.
Some may wonder, will Thompson’s presence as a sharpshooter for hire be comparable to Ray Allen during his time with the Boston Celtics or the Miami Heat?
Or will he be more Reggie Miller-like?
Worth noting: Thompson changed his number from 11 to No.31.
That’s Miller’s number. Perhaps he could channel the Pacers legend.
“I think he’s gonna be more Klay Thompson,” said Baron Davis.
“He has the opportunity to put up big numbers when you look at that team and a lot of those wide open shots that that position was getting; everybody that played the 3-position in Dallas this year like PJ Washington who played the 3 and the 4 got a lot of corner threes. And you look at Tim Hardaway Jr., he was getting a lot of threes and he was getting a lot of looks. Now you’re putting Klay Thompson in that space? Klay is a player that you can run plays for on a pin down and he’s also someone that can get his own shot. So I feel like the pressure on him and I think the pressure on him that was on him being the counterpart and the savior to Steph when he faced a lot of injuries, now I think a new fresh start gives him the opportunity to have a clean slate and a player like that with a clean slate determined to prove himself with those two guys on the wing and then you got PJ Washington and those other great glue guys for him? It just takes the unnecessary attention from him for where now he can implement what wants to attempt.”
You can watch B.Davis’ Scoop B Radio interview in full HERE.
