Just who is Ricky Davis?

His real first name is Tyree. On the blacktop he known as The Hypnotizer. Ricky 3000. He wears braids and has tattoos conjuring up all the tired NBA stereotypes but comes from an educated and stable family and has never been in trouble off the court.

Again, who is Ricky Davis?

Antoine Walker
Steve Francis
Kevin Garnett
Chris Webber
Kobe Bryant
Ray Allen
Jamal Mashburn
Steve Francis
Tracy McGrady and Ricky Davis.

What do they all have in common? They were the only players in the NBA to average at least 20 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds a game last season. However, besides Ray Allen's Supersonics who finished just under .500 at 40-42 Ricky Davis' Cavaliers were by far the worst team with such a player on their roster.

So is that Ricky Davis?

Ricky Davis nearly doubled his scoring, steals and blocks and more than doubled his assists but came in just fifth in the Most Improved Player voting.

Starting to get the picture? He doesn't seem to get a whole lot of recognition for what his talent should dictate. The question has to be why.

Ricky Davis is one of the more polarizing figures in recent Cleveland sports history. Most people either love him or hate him with very little in between. Some hate his cockiness, bravado and perceived selfishness while others see the passion and energy he plays with and wishes more Cavaliers played like him.

Which is he? Well, that's complicated. The best answer I can give is all of the above.

The dichotomy of Ricky Davis seemingly extends to every part of his being to steal an abstraction from ex-hippie and Hall of Fame center Bill Walton. When you think of a signature Davis play what do you think of? People that like him will think of the dunk in which he practically jumped over Dallas Mavericks guard Steve Nash on a fastbreak, a play that will be seen on NBA highlight films for years. On the other hand those that don't will point to the selfish act of throwing the ball at his own hoop in attempt to record a triple double against the Utah Jazz. It marred a game in which Davis and the Cavaliers played great blowing the Jazz off of the floor. The play brought all kinds of bad national attention and damaged Davis' reputation. A reputation that will take a long time to repair and will always be brought up and become fodder for articles like this one.

Maybe the dichotomy of Ricky Davis is the key to finding out who he truly is. Maybe the same player who bought tickets to a bunch of kids who came to the game and cheered for him and the team in an empty Gund Arena forming Ricky's Renegades is the same player that got into a shouting match with former Cavalier Bimbo Coles on the court and made a disparaging remark about the physical appearance of former Cavaliers Tyrone Hill during a timeout. It took all of one week into the LeBron James Era after a summer of speculation in newspapers, magazines and sports talk radio for more controversy to arise about Ricky Davis. Stephen A. Smith, a general sports columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer working as a studio NBA analyst for ESPN, reported that Davis verbally jumped on the rookie James during a recent game. A day later, Chad Ford of ESPN Insider had Davis on the list of players already on the trading block just a week into the season. Cavs Talk has learned that Cavaliers GM Jim Paxson is indeed shopping Davis around the league and he is garnering some interest though no serious discussions are occurring at the moment. Davis and James for their part said there is no animosity between them and are friends on and off the court. In subsequent games after the Smith report, Davis went on to average 17.5 points, 10 rebounds and 7.5 assists as the Cavaliers played their best games of the season including Davis netting 26 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists as Cleveland notched their first win of the season just adding to the enigma that is Ricky Davis.

So do we now know who Ricky Davis is? Yes, sort of. No. Well, maybe. In two years plus six games as a Cavalier Cleveland fans have seen a whole lot from Davis. All I can deduce is that it is never as bad or good as it seems with Ricky Davis. He is the Yin and the Yang. Coincidentally, Davis' birthday falls on September 23 making him a Libra who is represented in astrology by the Scales.

With Ricky Davis would you have believed it could have been anything else?

CavsTalk