Davante Adams has been one of the best receivers in the league for quite some time now. A baller since the Packers drafted him in the 2nd round, Adams has consistently delivered impressive performances. However, his path could have been different. Instead of scoring touchdowns, he might have been making buckets in the NBA, but genetics had other plans, leaving him a few inches short of his goal. But football gods answered the prayers of a boy who grew up in poverty.
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In a captivating episode of Shannon’s Sharpe Club Shay-Shay, Davante Adams shared his story. When asked if he always aspired to be a football player, he admitted that despite his great NFL career, he initially dreamed of playing in the NBA when he was in the 4th grade.
Using his old yearbook, Adams showed a picture of himself with the words “NBA or NFL star” written alongside. He emphasized that he preferred the NBA and didn’t start playing football until his junior year. For him, it was all about hoops, believing it was his ticket out of poverty and the way to provide for his family.
However, as fate would have it, Tay stopped growing after a high school growth spurt, making his NBA dreams unrealistic. Realizing his height wouldn’t cut it in the NBA, he shifted his focus to football.
“I wanted to be in the NBA. When I was in the 4th grade, we did a yearbook thing. That’s what I told people I needed to be. You see NBA was first cuz, at this point, I didn’t football until my junior year of high school. It was all ball for me and it was no other option. I grew up 5 and a half inches going into high school and that kind of stopped. I thought I was going to be 6’8. I grew and I’m grateful I’m about 6’1 or 6’2 but that’s bottom of the barrel in the NBA.”
While 6’2 is short for the NBA, Steph Curry still dominated the league with his impressive shooting at the same height. But Adams was no Curry and had to make do with being a receiver in the National Football League.
Can’t Shoot It Like Steph Or Dame: Davante Adams
With a 40-41 inch vertical, there was still hope for Tay to cut in the NBA. But the only problem was he was no baller like Curry or Damian Lillard. He could shoot better than most but being in the NBA with his height required him to shoot like those guys, something he couldn’t do.
“I do got a 41-42 inch vert to make up for it but I ain’t shooting like Dame or Steph. I could shoot it but you know them boys a little different over there. If I can’t shoot like them and I ain’t, they ain’t about my height, they close but you know I played the numbers and felt like the NFL was going to be a good look for me.”
As per Andscape, playing as a 6’1 or 6’2 point guard, Adams averaged who averaged 9.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 16 games during his senior season on the varsity basketball team at Palo Alto High School. He had a 43-inch vertical to make for his height, which he felt would grow but that didn’t happen.
He feels being a hooper during his early sports journey has helped him play differently in the NFL. With the same arm length as LeBron James, he has displayed a great leaping ability and knew how to time his jump, which gave him an advantage over the CBs.
The fans would be grateful that he didn’t get to play in the NBA because otherwise, we wouldn’t have the pleasure of watching him play in the NFL.
