Josh Davis Interview
By InsideHoops.com / Dec. 13, 2004
Philadelphia 76ers forward Josh Davis played four years at Wyoming, went overseas for a brief stint, played four games with the Hawks in 2003-04, won MVP of the CBA in 2003-04, and has now found a home with the Sixers. He's a solid player. InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner met with Davis for an exclusive interview.
InsideHoops.com: Before playing in the NBA you were in Italy. How'd that happen and how did it go?
Josh Davis: My agent did all the work, and I just made a decision on where I wanted to go.
InsideHoops.com: And what team did you play for there?
Josh Davis: I played for Jesi, in Italy. It was in the second division. We were alright. They didn't think we were going to be very good, but we ended up winning a few games here and there.
InsideHoops.com: What other Americans were around?
Josh Davis: I played with Raymond Tutt, from a small California school (UC-Santa Barbara), with Mason Rocca from Princeton, and Carl Thomas, who played in the NBA for a long time.
InsideHoops.com: Did you have fun? What was cool, what wasn't?
Josh Davis: It was a good time. It wasn't a whole lot of fun playing only one game a week; we only played Sundays, and it got kind of boring. But it was great culture, great food, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
InsideHoops.com: And after that you went to the CBA, and did extremely well.
Josh Davis: Yeah, the next year I played in the CBA. I started with Chicago, went to training camp with them, got cut right before season, then went straight to the CBA. Had a good year in the CBA, got called up once by Atlanta. Went back to the CBA, and then once the CBA was over I went over to Spain and played for two months for one of the team's that wanted me to come over and help with the playoffs.
InsideHoops.com: What was the CBA experience like for you?
Josh Davis: The CBA was awesome. I learned a lot, became a lot better player in the CBA. Off the court, it's like... whatever stereotype you think you'd ever have about the CBA with the busing and the road trips and all the different characters in the league... there's some crazy guys who do some crazy things and it makes it real interesting. It was a lot of fun.
InsideHoops.com: What kind of crazy stuff?
Josh Davis: Most of the stuff you can't really be specific about (laughs)...
InsideHoops.com: Hah, okay, in general...
Josh Davis: In the CBA, guys are tested to their limits mentally, because everybody wants to make it. And in the CBA, you're not guaranteed the next day. They can bring in a whole new team in 24 hours, so you're not guaranteed to be on the team more than a day. So, a lot of the guys, the pressure on the court was so strong that off the court they had to relax, especially guys that have been in the CBA for a couple of years, it's definitely wearing on their mind and you can tell (laughs).
InsideHoops.com: So now with all that behind you, here you are, with the Sixers and doing what you can to stick around.
Josh Davis: I don't feel like I'm done yet. Just because I made a team doesn't mean I'm done. I just want to keep working hard, and get in the lineup at some point, and do what I can do. Everybody thinks it's the greatest thing to make the NBA, and it is, but to me it's not going to mean a whole lot until I actually start contributing a little more.
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