"It's like a playoff game intensity" - Baron Davis shares what made playing basketball at Rucker Park unique

Rucker Park in New York City is a special place in the world of basketball. In some ways, it's the place where professional basketball and streetball intersect. Some NBA superstars started there, while others became legends thanks to their performances here.

One guy who was a mix of a streetball player and a professional player was Baron Davis . And that culminated with a legendary trip to Rucker Park early on in his career in the NBA, which had a big impact on the young star at the time.

Davis shares his Rucker Park experience

Baron was born and raised in California, but he stayed on the West Coast until he was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 1999. He didn't make many trips to the East Coast, but one day, he decided to visit Rucker Park.

This was sort of uncharted territory, as Rucker Park is primarily for east coast hoopers rather than west coast hoopers. But Davis kicked that door down when he showed up, and he put on a show that he still remembers to this day.

"When I got to the league, I was the first person from LA to go play in the Rucker," Davis said on Games With Names. "I showed up by myself. It's like a playoff game intensity but in the streets. Soon as you get in the game, they go crazy, because it's like a pro coming to the hood, this the real hood."

"Soon as you get the ball, they go, 'Ohhhh!' And if you pass it, they be like, 'Ah, man, get him off the court.' They'll boo your a** in a heartbeat. You better show us something, or we gonna call you sorry and every kind of name and get your a** up out of here…It didn't matter what leagues you played in, how high a level. All these were real hoopers. The Rucker was like, you wanna claim a name, go show us what you can do in the mecca of basketball," he added.

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B-Diddy thoroughly enjoyed playing at the Rucker

There was surely some skepticism, considering B-Daddy was from Los Angeles and playing on a New York court, but he quickly won everyone over with his flashy play. We all saw Davis' streetball style of play in the NBA, so it's not exactly a shock that he excelled at Rucker Park.

In essence, Rucker Park is what makes basketball so great. It's a spot where all sorts of different players can take the court and show their skills. Sometimes, even NBA players like The Beard appear and take on regular folks just for the sake of competition.

That's what makes the sport so great, and it's a shame we don't see more of this in the modern game. Who knows, maybe Davis could pop out there and play again at some point in the future, but given that he's 45 years old, that seems unlikely to happen.

Related: Baron Davis breaks down what makes UCLA the best college in the US: "So many historical things have happened in UCLA"