Classic card of the week

Brad Davis, 1990-91 Skybox

The easy joke here would be to say that Brad Davis was flaming. Or, at least, his balls were flaming. But I am not going to go there, because that is not how I roll. “But how does Brad Davis roll?” you may be asking yourself. That, I cannot answer. All I can do is show you the back of the card,
(check the “Brad” in the lower right-hand corner of the picture…that’s class!), remind you that Brad Davis played for a team whose symbol was a cowboy hat resting on top of a giant “M,” and then ask you to look at the front of the card again. Says Troy McClure, “Yes, Smithers IS Mr. Burns’ assistant.”

Of course, I am joking with these implications and innuendos. Brad Davis was just a product of the times, a times that just happened to involve short shorts, mustaches, flaming basketballs, and cowboy hats. Let’s face it – we were ALL a little gay in 1991.

Anyhoo, I perused Brad Davis’ Wikipedia page, where I discovered that Brad Davis was not a good basketball player. This seems contradictory to what the front of this card would imply, because Brad Davis is obviously about to skool some mo fo’s. Nevertheless, says Wikipedia:

Davis was an average NBA player, averaging less than 10 points per game for his career, but his drive and love for the community made him a fan favorite.

After games in which Brad Davis would miss a game-tying layup by tossing it over the backboard, many of the die-hard Mavericks fans could be overheard saying things like, “Man, Brad Davis really sucks. But he’s got such a love for the community! I just can’t stay mad at the guy!” Also according to Wikipedia, “Davis became the first Maverick to have his jersey retired when his #15 was raised to the rafters of Reunion Arena.” There may be no better indictment of the pre-Dirk Nowitzki Mavericks than the fact that a guy who couldn’t average 10 points a game had his jersey retired because they had to get something up there. Then again, be careful what you wish for, because Dirk Nowitzki totally hates the community.

Did you know?
When the Mavericks moved to the American Airlines Center in 2002, Brad Davis' retired jersey was left behind, with the reason being that "nobody could reach it."