Kobe Bryant played with many stars throughout his illustrious NBA career. However, one of the biggest stars he shared the court with is known more for his work outside of basketball. 13-year NBA veteran Rick Fox made waves in the league but didn’t let basketball define himself. Eventually, he became a full-blown Hollywood actor.
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The 6-foot-7 forward spent four seasons at the University of North Carolina before entering the 1991 NBA Draft. There were plenty of teams that showed interest in Fox, but ultimately the Boston Celtics drafted him with the 24th pick.
Fox spent six seasons in Boston, evolving into a serviceable starting-level player in the NBA. In the 1996-96 season, Fox averaged a career-high 15.4 points along with 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game. The following season the Celtics inexplicably released Fox at 27 years old, which led to him joining the Lakers.
The remaining seven years of his NBA career came in Los Angeles. Fox emerged as a perfect complimentary piece alongside Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. Fox was instrumental in the second unit of the Lakers’ 2000 title run.
Following the departure of Glen Rice that same offseason, the Lakers slotted Fox into the starting lineup. He helped earn the team win two more championships, marking the last three-peat in the NBA.
Fox didn’t wait until his playing career was over to dabble in the world of acting. His first gig came in 1994 during his tenure with the Celtics. He had an appearance in the film Blue Chips as a member of the Western University basketball team.
A few years later, in 1997, Fox earned a role in the HBO prison drama Oz. His character, Jackson Vahue appeared in 11 episodes spanning between 1997 and 2003.
His performance in those two projects jumpstarted his acting career and he hasn’t looked back since.
Rick Fox’s most popular roles in acting
After the 2003-04 season, Fox decided to call it quits on his basketball career. Although his time in the NBA had ended, his chapter in acting was only getting started. Fox made multiple guest appearances in different television series. One of those series includes the CW drama One Tree Hill, in which Fox appeared in five episodes.
Some of his most popular roles consist of his role as Darius Nash in the television series Greenleaf, in which he appeared in 30 episodes. He had a lead role of Coach Harry in Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns. Although it was only for one episode, Fox also appeared in the hit drama series Shameless.
Fox has received recognition on the grand level for his works in acting. In 2015, he won the Maple of Excellence for Outstanding Athlete/Actor Crossover Award. Three years later in 2018, he won two awards for his work in the short film Game.
The first came from the Artemis Women in Action Film Festival where he earned the award for Best Actor. In the Lenola Film Festival Inventa un Film, he received an additional Best Actor recognition.
The 3x champion is currently taking a break from acting
Despite the continuous success in the acting world, Fox has taken a break from Hollywood. He has pivoted to working on the development of environment-healthy bricks.
The shift in career fields seems random and drastic, which it is. However, Fox has a personal drive that has led him into this new business venture. In 2019, during Hurricane Dorian’s onslaught, Fox’s childhood home in the Bahamas was destroyed.
The series of events instilled an unwavering resolve to help ensure others don’t go through the same thing. Therefore, he partnered with architect Sam Marshall to develop carbon-negative concrete.
This innovative creation has the tools to revolutionize how buildings are made going forward. Rick Fox may have won three championships in his NBA career but his current endeavors remarkably have the potential to exceed his reputation as an NBA player.
