The metaverse better get ready, as Baron Davis is looking to score big time!
Davis is best known as a two-time NBA All-Star who played for a variety of teams, including the New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and more.
After his time on the basketball court, Davis pivoted into the world of broadcasting. The famed athlete served as a regular panelist on TNT’s Monday night NBA broadcast “Players Only,” featuring former ballers who provided play-by-play and commentary on NBA games.
Since then, Davis has continued to reinvent himself and serve the community through different initiatives. For his latest venture, he has partnered up with Hennessy and joined the board of their Never Stop Never Settle Society (NSNSS). The organization aims to nurture the next generation of Black entrepreneurs through high-impact funding, resources, and infrastructure to further their journeys and ultimately transform communities. The initiative builds on Hennessy’s long-standing commitment to Black communities and ongoing mission to champion cultural diversity. As a part of the partnership, Davis will be extending his likeness, resources, time and image to the brand.
REVOLT caught up with Baron Davis to chat about the Never Stop Never Settle Society, merging the culture with the metaverse, and the greatest part about being a father. Get into our conversation below.
What was it that sparked your interest in the metaverse?
Well, from a creator standpoint, I get to create my own IP — the assets that I created before Black Santa’s trademark. All of this can actually exists in the space … in a world that I can actually build in and find young creators, young entrepreneurs, digital architects, developers, and put together a team. With the team, I think it’s the ownership — the team has this collective and a collective unit that owns this IP. And these shared resources can bring a dynamic opportunity to create business and crowdfunded business, while also impacting communities through give-backs and utility opportunities, but also by true ownership. So the NFT gives us the opportunity to own artwork, to own membership passes, to own valuable, intangible, utility-based access passes. For Black people, we’ve never had our own space and we’ve never had our own world. The metaverse — the blockchain and what we’re building with — more than us gives us an opportunity to say we can build whatever we imagine and whatever we dream of. All of our legends, all of our stories, all of our pioneers have a great optic — greater opportunity to exist forever in a digital storytelling capacity.
Everyone wants to break into technology and learn about NFTs these days, but it can be difficult to comprehend the metaverse and all that comes with it. What advice would you give to someone who is looking for a way in?
Education is always the best. Just being aware of the standard and the baseline — knowing the opportunities that NFTs can offer. Just establishing that it’s art and access — if you go about it that way, I think your ownership or your buying capabilities become what you curate. Think about yourself as the museum owner, a gallery owner, and now you have this digital gallery space where you can actually own this artwork and own certain IP to different NFTs. You can display that in your house right on a digital wall — things of that nature, but really think about the art and access while being a curator.
What do you think the future looks like as we bridge the culture with this new digital space?
I would say it feels like the the perfect opportunity because we get to be so inclusive and like-minded — identify each other in the right space. Then have the same rationale, the same reason, the same opportunities and the thing we give ourselves — we allow ourselves as a community to have access to each other, to the greater project, or the greater business, and that alone should be inspirational to the next wave of those smaller groups coming together. I look at NFTs and the metaverse as an opportunity for us to hand out membership cards to the like-minded — people or change agents, pioneers, great minds, creative thinkers of the next generation — and build legacy through that and I think that’s a big part of the Never Stop Never Settle Society with Hennessy. That’s why we partnered up — because we can bring a web3 idea around what Hennessy is doing in real life. To combine those two things, you don’t have to explain much and so that’s what we’re trying to solve — we’re trying to build use cases for our culture, in our community, to be first movers and like use case scenarios in web3 — but also to use those use cases to really build out legacy and amplify the entrepreneurs that are in our culture.
Can you tell us more about the NSNSS initiatve and how it benefits Black entrepreneurs and communities?
The opportunities are unlimited, right? When you think about it — having access to a network, and a group of people that look like you, think like you, build like you and build what you want is one part of it. Second is to be able to have these people that are a part of the Never Stop Never Settle Society be able to articulate information, cheat codes and cheat sheets. Three, you have the opportunity to engage and actually meet, network and build things, and the outcome of it all. As a collective and with this campaign — it gives us a chance to work together, to build something that is responsible, and something that can be passed down to the next generation of young entrepreneurs.
Outside of social media, how are you planning on spreading word of your message to underserved communities with limited resources?
I would love to have real-life events, dinners, invite them to webinars and workshops — the work doesn’t stop. We have to find all kinds of access points to the people in our community and we have to find these unicorn builders, these unicorn entrepreneurs. It could be workshops or giving people the opportunity to come to one of our festivals for business, sports and content. Every time we engage — whether it’s through dinner, fireside chat, a workshop, showing up at events — people are gonna start to see us and identify us and be able to approach us and have the same opportunity we’re getting in partnership with Hennessy.
Do you have any tips for NBA players on the best way to make the jump from the league to another career?
You just have to do the work and fall in love with your imagination — fall in love with the game. Always be critical of your game and willing to work and improve yourself. The imagination is what got you here, so the imagination is what’s going to take you further.
Also, happy belated Father’s Day to you. How did you spend the holiday this year, and what’s the greatest part about being a dad?
The greatest part about being a dad is my boys. I spent time with them and I actually had a game I had to coach. My kids usually don’t like going to basketball games and watching me coach, but for some strange reason they were into it — calling plays, dribbling between the legs. This was the first weekend that my kids were really into basketball. To be able to spend time with my kids and for them to love basketball the way that they do is like for me to be a kid again.