Tag: Terence Davis

Raptors have spoken to Terence Davis regarding his recent mask photo

Raptors rookie Terence Davis was seen recently wearing a mask with a hole cut into it prior to a game against the Lakers.

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After a photo went viral of Terence Davis wearing a mask with a hole in it, Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said upper management has spoken to the rookie regarding the incident.

Davis was pictured on Saturday before the Raptors played the Los Angeles Lakers wearing a facial mask with a hole cut into the middle of it. The issue prompted the NBA to send a memo to teams re-emphasizing the importance of wearing masks and facial coverings.

According to Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports, Nurse said Raptors president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster have spoken to Davis and they are taking care of the situation.

Davis questioned the legitimacy of the coronavirus last week in a post on his Instagram account. The post in question came after he re-posted a tweet that shared concern with how health officials have informed the public on how to maintain a healthy immune system.

However, Davis isn’t the only player to downplay the significance of the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed over 150,000 lives in the United States alone.

Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard has been repeatedly warned about wearing his mask after he questioned the need for it. Additionally, Denver Nuggets rookie Michael Porter Jr. said on social media there is an “agenda” behind the coronavirus pandemic.

Prior to the season restart, the NBA published a 108-page handbook on safety guidelines for playing at the Wide World of Sports Complex. The NBA has the authority to discipline players in violation of the rules and they can be removed from the bubble for multiple infractions.

The rules set forth by the NBA at Disney have been designed to ensure a safe and healthy environment. The plan has started off to great success after the NBA announced last week that the last two rounds of COVID-19 testing have yielded zero positive results.

Davis is 7.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 66 games played this season.

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ESPN’s Zach Lowe unveils his NBA All-Rookie Team ballots

Voting to determine the 2019-20 season awards will conclude Tuesday after sportswriters and broadcasters began casting ballots on July 21.

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On Tuesday, the media voting to determine the 2019-20 season awards will conclude after the NBA announced a panel of global sportswriters and broadcasters could begin casting ballots on July 21.

The voting was based only on games played from the start of the regular season through March 11 after the NBA announced that the eight “seeding games” set to tip-off July 30 will not count toward the season awards in order to create a fair voting process for players on all 30 teams in the league.

The awards will be announced on TNT during its coverage of the NBA Playoffs.

With the voting wrapping up, ESPN reporter Zach Lowe revealed on Tuesday his ballots for the season awards, including his picks for the NBA All-Rookie Teams. His choices for the First Team appear to be pretty safe picks.

First Team

Player Team
Zion Williamson New Orleans Pelicans
Ja Morant Memphis Grizzlies
Brandon Clarke Memphis Grizzlies
Kendrick Nunn Miami Heat
Eric Paschall Golden State Warriors

Lowe detailed that Paschall earned the nod on his First Team ballot over P.J. Washington and Terence Davis due to his role on the Warriors. Though the Warriors were bad, Lowe felt as though Paschall showed more of an ability to create for himself.

Second Team

Player Team
P.J. Washington Charlotte Hornets
Tyler Herro Miami Heat
Coby White Chicago Bulls
Terence Davis Toronto Raptors
Rui Hachimura Washington Wizards

The one glaring omission from each group was New York Knicks forward R.J. Barrett. He finished fourth among all rookies in scoring but as Lowe noted, Barrett struggled in most advanced statistical categories, most notably shooting: He converted on just 43% on 2-pointers and was 61% from the free-throw line.

Overall, the NBA All-Rookie Second Team appears to be the area in which most voters will differ in opinion. The final voting results should be interesting to see based on how each voter viewed this year’s crop of rookies.

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Raptors’ Terence Davis calls for arrests of Breonna Taylor’s killers

Raptors rookie Terence Davis, and teammate Serge Ibaka, joined his NBA peers on Wednesday in drawing attention to the death of Taylor.

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Toronto Raptors rookie Terence Davis used his media session with reporters on Wednesday to call for the arrests of the police officers that killed Breonna Taylor on March 13 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Taylor, an unarmed 26-year-old Black woman, was shot and killed in her home by police officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison and Myles Cosgrove. None of three officers have been charged but Hankison was fired by the Louisville Metro Police Department late last month.

Players around the NBA have joined together in calling for action in the death of Taylor since arriving for the season restart at the Walt Disney World Resort. Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris, Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown and Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard are among those drawing attention to the death of Taylor.

Davis, and teammate Serge Ibaka, joined his peers in bringing her death front and center.

We’re united right now. We’re just keeping the focus on Breonna Taylor’s killers. That’s what I want to keep the focus on this week. It’s nothing against you guys — and I can answer all of you guys’ questions post-game or any time after we’re playing — but right now I just want to keep the focus on what’s really going on in the world.

There’s a lot of social injustice going on and I just want to make sure that I’m doing the right thing and using my platform, as well as other athletes, to just continue with this thing, man. We all stand united. We might not all have to be on the same team but we’re still united in this league. I just want to keep the focus on Breonna Taylor’s killers and just keep that going, man, because it’s still going on in the world.

The NBA and NBPA agreed in principle that the goal of the season restart would be to find tangible and sustainable ways to address racial inequality across the country. The NBA has allowed players to inscribe a phrase or message on the back of their jerseys in place of their names to help raise awareness for a social cause or movement.

Additionally, the NBA has added “Black Lives Matter” to each floor design in the three arenas on the campus of Disney that will host NBA games during the season restart. As the NBA and NBPA work to find ways to address racial inequality, the players have stepped up in the meantime and have used their platforms to raise awareness on key issues worldwide.

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Drake sent Terence Davis, Raptors fresh hotel room candles at Disney

Raptors rookie Terence Davis and several other players on the roster posted pictures of the custom-made candles from Drake and OVO.

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Drake may not be able to cheer on his hometown Toronto Raptors in person this year during the NBA Playoffs but the four-time Grammy-award-winning artist sent his team a care package to let them know he is with them in spirit.

The Raptors have been on the road longer than other teams in the NBA. The team left Canada on June 22 in order to quarantine prior to traveling to the Walt Disney World Resort and held an early training camp in Fort Myers, Florida.

Raptors rookie Terence Davis and several other players posted pictures on Instagram of the custom-made candles from Drake and OVO, courtesy of @NBABubbleLife on Twitter. The players appreciated the gesture by Drake and Davis even said the candles make him feel right at home.

Of course, Drake has become a vocal fan of the Raptors in recent years and is the global ambassador for the team. He is often seen courtside near the Raptors’ bench but with the NBA returning to play at Disney without fans, Drake will need to show his support on social media when the season resumes on July 30.

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Raptors’ roster holds the lowest-average draft position among NBA teams

The Toronto Raptors head into the resumption of play for the NBA season re-start with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

When the Raptors won the title in 2019, it was the only time that the NBA champions did not have a lottery pick on their roster since the league changed to a weighted lotto system in 1990.

In fact, the 2019 Raptors had the lowest drafted players among NBA champions since the Houston Rockets in 1993-94. (Although those numbers were a bit impacted by the fact that Mario Elie was selected at No. 160 overall, fully one hundred spots later than the final selection eligible in the modern draft).

This year, the only Toronto player selected in the lottery was Stanley Johnson. The former University of Arizona forward was picked at No. 8 overall in 2015. But he averaged just 4.8 minutes per game in 2019-20, making zero appearances in the starting lineup.

The only first-rounders on the team are OG Anunoby (No. 23 overall), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (No. 23 overall), Kyle Lowry (No. 24 overall), Serge Ibaka (No. 24 overall) and Pascal Siakam (No. 27 overall). All of these players were taken in the second half of the first round.

Among NBA teams, the Raptors currently have the roster with the lowest average draft positions.

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One interesting observation: the rosters with higher draft positions are not doing that well. The six NBA teams that have the lowest draft position all have winning records this season. Meanwhile, 10 of the eleven teams with the highest-drafted players have losing records.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report

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Terence Davis has been a ‘sponge’ around the Raptors veterans

Raptors forward Terence Davis emerged this season as a key contributor and has spent much of the year learning from his veteran teammates.

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Toronto Raptors guard Terence Davis emerged this season as a key contributor for the defending NBA champions and the rookie has spent much of the year learning from his veteran teammates.

With a roster featuring the likes of Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Kyle Lowry and others, there has been seemingly plenty of wisdom to go around for a young player like Davis. The process has allowed Davis to not only grow on the court but off of it, as well.

Davis told reporters on Sunday following practice at the Walt Disney World Resort that he has learned how to become a professional from the veterans on the roster and is constantly soaking up their knowledge.

It goes a lot of ways with taking care of your body because that’s what’s going to take care of you; that’s your moneymaker right there. Eating right, putting the right things in your body, being on time and doing things the right way. … I’m a sponge right now being a rookie. That’s the nature of this game, you gotta climb the ladder. Just being a professional is one way to keep you in this league.

Davis added that he has become a better player in pick-and-roll situations thanks to working with Gasol and Ibaka. The spacing that they can create allows Davis the ability to make a play and he has often taken advantage of those scenarios.

The rise of Davis in just his first year in the NBA has been remarkable. Raptors head coach Nick Nurse has often used small rotations this season, sometimes only eight or nine players deep, and Davis was among those players used off of the bench.

The Raptors will kick off the season restart on Aug. 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers. They are among the favorites in the Eastern Conference and could find themselves competing for yet another championship this season.

It will be an experience Davis will likely be ready for.

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Terence Davis once tried trash-talking Westbrook and it went all wrong

Russell Westbrook wasn’t having any trash-talk from Terence Davis in a game earlier this season.

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Russell Westbrook has established himself as a fierce competitor on the court and often has the trash talk to back up his play. If any player can attest to that, it is Toronto Raptors rookie Terence Davis.

Westbrook doesn’t often back down from opponents and has been known to go back and forth with other players. He has infamously had a longstanding beef with Patrick Beverley and Joel Embiid to name a few and Davis may now be on that list, too.

Davis was facing Westbrook and the Houston Rockets during a preseason game in Saitama, Japan. As Davis recalled in an interview with Alex Wong of Yahoo Sports Canada, he was sitting on the bench when he started trash-talking Westbrook.

“I yelled out to Westbrook,” Davis said. “I said, ‘That [expletive] broke!'”

After Davis yelled over to him, Westbrook heard Davis and then proceeded to approach the Raptors’ bench when teammate James Harden joined him during the process.

“They let me have it,” Davis said. “They were talking to me bad. I’m talking about bad. They welcomed me to the league.”

To Davis’ credit, Westbrook shot just 24% (4-of-17) from 3-point range during those two games against the Raptors in Japan but talking trash to Westbrook still isn’t advisable as a rookie.

The exchange with Westbrook proved to be the ultimate ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment for Davis in what would become a solid rookie campaign by the undrafted guard.

Davis may have had the last laugh, though, because Westbrook and Harden were yelling at him to make the Raptors roster. Little did they know, Davis had already earned a guaranteed contract from the team.

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NBA All-Rookie Teams: Zach Lowe, Chris Herring name their picks

The NBA All-Rookie First Team appears to be set among voters but the Second Team is still up in the air.

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With the NBA season in jeopardy due to the coronavirus pandemic, some members of the national media have unofficially started filling out their end of the season awards ballots.

By now, when it comes to rookie players, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has been most commonly mentioned as the 2019-20 Rookie of the Year winner given his total body of work over No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson.

ESPN reporter Zach Lowe and FiveThirtyEight writer Chris Herring recently linked up on the “Lowe Post” podcast to discuss the All-Rookie Teams in which they named the 10 best rookies of the season. They each essentially agreed on the First Team but had some differences on the Second Team.

The noticeable omission is New York Knicks forward R.J. Barrett.

Lowe and Herring each acknowledged they would likely hear from Knicks fans over leaving him off. They added that while Barrett’s numbers look like he belongs in the discussion, if they are examined more closely, it would suggest Barrett struggled this season: He shot 43.2% on 2-pointers and 32% on 3-pointers for an effective field-goal percentage of 44.5, one of the worst among rookies.

The two writers each tended to award players that were on winning teams when making their final decisions. Toronto Raptors guard Terence Davis ultimately made the cut based on his defensive ability and scoring off of the bench this season. Davis was also one of two rookies that were a net positive on both sides of the ball, according to FiveThirtyEight stats.

Overall, the All-Rookie First Team appears to be locked among most voters while the Second Team will present some challenges when determining the final order of players. Nonetheless, the final voting should be interesting to see once that time comes.

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Raptors rookie Terence Davis took flight for a crazy dunk vs. Warriors

The undrafted guard from Ole Miss threw down a signature dunk over Marquese Chriss in the second quarter.

Terence Davis led the Toronto Raptors’ scoring efforts off of the bench Thursday night in a win over the Golden State Warriors and the rookie even threw down a signature dunk in the process.

Davis recorded 10 points, four assists and two rebounds as the Raptors picked up the 121-113 win as Stephen Curry played his first game with the Warriors since suffering a broken hand on Oct. 30.

The two-time NBA MVP recorded 23 points in his return.

Davis turned in perhaps the highlight of the game for the Raptors after taking flight in the second quarter. The undrafted guard from Ole Miss took it hard to the basket, jamming it in over Marquese Chriss.

Davis has emerged as a key contributor for the Raptors this season.

He ratcheted his play up in February after averaging 12.2 points and 4.2 rebounds in 10 games during the month, including a career-high 31 points on Feb. 2.

With the Raptors clinching a playoff berth on Thursday, Davis will be among the first-year players set to play on the biggest stage, which should be fun to watch.

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Raptors guard Terence Davis discusses his rookie season, potential shoe deal

Toronto Raptors rookie guard Terence Davis has been turning everybody’s head.

In an interview with HoopsHype’s Bryan Kalbrosky, Toronto Raptors rookie guard Terence Davis discusses a myriad of topics that provides fans with an in-depth view of who he is as a person and what drives him as a player.

Averaging 8.1 points per game on 47.8% shooting from the field and 42.1% shooting from three, the 6’4” guard out of Ole Miss has turned heads across the league. In fact, his play has been so strong — particularly for an undrafted player — that there were even those who supported him being in the Rising Stars Game during All-Star Weekend.

Per HoopsHype, the very nature of being an underdog is what Davis loves, making him a perfect fit for a startlingly effective Raptors team:

If you think about it, we have a lot of players that were not picked high in the draft. We don’t have anyone who was a lottery pick. But these guys won a title last year and we want to prove it again. I just want to add on to that. I have the physicality just to grind and that is so much of what it really comes down to.

Davis has not only embraced the mentality that permeates the Raptors’ locker room but understands the intricacies of being solid on both ends of the ball: Effort, positioning and physicality.

A Mississippi native, Davis has also embraced Toronto itself, an entirely new world from what he grew up around.

Speaking first about the “amazing fans,” Davis says “there are a lot of things that I love about Toronto. There are so many places to eat. It’s unbelievable. The city is amazing. I’m in love with the city, honestly. I feel like I’m in such a great situation.”

An individual as genuine as Davis and who has displayed a high level of skill so early in his career, it makes sense that he would attract endorsements.

Especially with the market he’s in.

That said, it’s no surprise that though Davis doesn’t “have a sneaker deal… AND1 is sending me some stuff. PUMA is in the mix. Obviously, Nike.”

“I’m not really rushing anything,” Davis muses. “I like wearing whatever I want to so I’m cool with it.”

That doesn’t mean that he isn’t already thinking ahead though.

“I’ll say that these AND1’s have been feeling pretty comfortable since I’ve started playing in them,” he admitted. “So if they feel good, I’ll work them.”

The future appears bright for the young father. At just 22-years-old, Davis has put himself in a position to have a long career in the league and to potentially be a household name.

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