UNCUT OUTTAKES: A condensed version of Dan Patrick's interview with Charlotte Hornets guard Baron Davis appears in the April 1 edition of ESPN The Magazine.

	Hornets guard Baron Davis laments an ancient TV question during his "Weakest Link" appearance.

DP: Why do you wear No. 1?
BD: Because Elden Campbell stole No. 5.
DP: It's that simple?
BD: Elden Campbell stole No. 5. Now, 5 is the number I wore since high school. So I'm thinking, I'm going to get No. 5, and I told him, "You know, big guys don't wear 5." But he said, "No, I'm not giving it to you."
DP: Did you try to buy it from him?
BD: Yes, I tried to buy it, but he said he's rich already so...
DP: There wasn't anything you could give him from, like, your UCLA days or anything he'd be impressed by?
BD: No.
DP: I mean, he went to Clemson -- they don't have that kind of basketball tradition there.
BD: He didn't want anything.
DP: That's tough.
BD: Yes.

DP: Name the point guards who are better than you, in your opinion. Because you may not think anybody's better than you.
BD: Oh man, I don't know. Right now, I would say Jason Kidd and Gary Payton. A lot of guys do better things than I do.
DP: Those are the two best.
BD: Yes. Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis are up there as well.
DP: So there's not really a weak guy playing point for any team in the NBA.
BD: No, not at all.
DP: It really is a guard's league, isn't it? Though the most dominating player is Shaq.
BD: There's nobody to go against him. You'd have to recruit somebody out of the state pen to guard Shaq.

DP: So why has the game changed? Why have the guards taken over the game?
BD: There are a lot more players with different skills now -- and you have bigger guys like Kevin Garnett and Antoine Walker who can handle the ball and play all over the court. So it gets back to the versatile player instead of the powerful big man.

DP: I'll name a point guard and you tell me what you like best about his game. Magic Johnson.
BD: Leadership.
DP: Tim Hardaway.
BD: I used to like Tim Hardaway.
DP: Yes -- what happened with that relationship?
BD: Oh, I don't know. It was just a rivalry. He plays with a lot of passion.
DP: Isiah Thomas.
BD: Oh, he was the man -- just overall everything.
DP: Jason Kidd.
BD: His ability to see the floor.
DP: John Stockton.
BD: Makes guys around him better.
DP: Did you come into the league and say, like most guys do, "How can this little white guy be as good as he is?"
BD: No, because I'd seen him.
DP: But you still didn't believe, did you? Because you watch him and he makes it look kind of easy -- and you think, you know what, he can't be that good.
BD: But he is ... he does make it look easy. I mean, his knowledge of the game -- when I first played against him, I was like, this guy is all over the floor. I mean, he still covers a lot of ground for an old man.
DP: He's old enough to be your dad.
BD: Yes he is.

DP: What scares you?
BD: I'm scared of heights and I'm scared of the ocean.
DP: So you can't swim?
BD: I can't swim a lick.
DP: Have you ever had any close calls in the water?
BD: Yes. Me and my girlfriend were in the Bahamas and I was laying down on one of those floats. And I go to turn over, but I fell in the water. I thought I was drowning. She thought it was funny, but I thought I was going to drown.
DP: And you're afraid of heights, but you get up pretty high to dunk.
BD: That's not heights.
DP: Oh.
BD: I'm talking about being on, like, the 17th floor and looking out the window.

DP: If you could choose one super power, what would it be?
BD: I'd probably want to be invisible.
DP: Wouldn't it be hard to keep track of your stats if you were invisible?
BD: True, but then I could sneak up to the other team's huddle.
DP: Yes, that would be good.

DP: Favorite non-NBA sports team?
BD: Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
DP: How did that happen?
BD: When I was growing up we didn't have cable. All that came on Saturday morning was Notre Dame football, and I was there every time to watch it.
DP: Do you have a favorite Fighting Irish football player?
BD: Tony Rice, Lee Becton, Jerome Bettis.
DP: You could play football, couldn't you?
BD: Yes, I wanted to -- and if Notre Dame had given me a scholarship to play both, I would have done it.
DP: You would have played basketball and football for the Irish and not gone to UCLA?
BD: Yep. My dream was to play football at Notre Dame more than anything.
DP: Have you been to a game at Notre Dame?
BD: No, but I'm going next year.
DP: What's interesting is that the stadium looks huge ... that's the one thing I couldn't get over. I saw them play USC, and I walked in there and I said, "That's it?" I thought it was this huge, huge stadium and it's not -- but it was fun. It was fun to watch, plus they kicked USC's ass...
BD: Yes, that's great ... anytime you kick SC's ass, it's tremendous.

DP: Who dresses flamboyantly on your team or in the NBA?
BD: Craig Sager [TNT's basketball reporter].
DP: I've known Sager for 20 years, and he's still wearing the same things he wore 20 years ago. ... Have you seen the leather pants?
BD: No, I haven't seen those.
DP: Oh, he's got the leather pants too, and he's got the plaid jacket with the striped shirt.
BD: He's got some outfits.
DP: Who else is a bad dresser in the NBA? Who has a wardrobe that you'd never step into their closet looking for clothes?
BD: You know what? I don't really know -- man, that's a good question.
DP: Charles Oakley's got some funky stuff.
BD: I think he's smooth.
DP: Yes, but you can't pull off a lavender jumpsuit anymore. You could do that in the '70s, but not now.

DP: If you could be a character from a movie, who would it be and why?
BD: Samuel L. Jackson in "The Negotiator."
DP: You could see yourself playing that role?
BD: Yes, I can see that.
DP: Would you want to be a sports agent?
BD: Yes. I wanted to -- I still can if I want to.
DP: Would you be more like Tom Cruise in "Jerry Maguire"?
BD: I'd be honest, yes ... I'd be an honest agent.
DP: Oh, so you would be different than all the other agents.
BD: Yes, exactly.

DP: Tell me three defenders who make for a long night on the offensive end.
BD: Gary Payton.
DP: Why?
BD: His hands -- he has tremendously quick hands and feet.
DP: OK.
BD: Jason Kidd ... and Tracy McGrady when he guards me. I think he's just as quick as any guard and he's 6-9.
DP: See, I think Tracy McGrady is the best player in the league.
BD: He's tough.
DP: I don't think there's anything he can't do. I love Kevin Garnett's passion and Shaq dominates and Kobe's wonderful, but I look at Tracy McGrady. I just think he's the real deal.
BD: Yes, he is the real deal.
DP: All right, give me somebody else. ... Does Kobe guard you?
BD: Yes.
DP: You don't have any problems with Kobe?
BD: No, not really. Probably James Posey -- he's a pretty good defender.
DP: He's athletic.
BD: Yes, he's athletic. He's long.
DP: But he's not a point guard.
BD: No, usually the shooting guards are guarding me. The bigger guys are guarding me.
DP: And shooting guards don't want to play any defense.
BD: Right.
DP: What about Sprewell or Allan Houston?
BD: Nah.
DP: You don't have any problems with those guys?
BD: Neither one of them.
DP: What city can't you wait to get to because you know who's guarding you -- who you have success against?
BD: Well, Detroit. I've been having success against them.
DP: Does Stackhouse guard you?
BD: Nobody can guard me on their team.
DP: I like that. That's good. So, Detroit -- any other stops that you like?
BD: Miami.
DP: Nobody can guard you in Miami?
BD: No.

	Baron Davis almost tried to dunk on Shaq once but then though better of it.

DP: Did your grandfather build you a basketball court?
BD: Yes.
DP: What if he had built you a tennis court?
BD: Then I'd be playing tennis right now.
DP: Do you think you'd be that good?
BD: Yep.
DP: Really.
BD: I would work that hard. Like when he built my basketball court, that's all I wanted to do, because it came from him.
DP: Oh, so because he built it, that's why you were going to make him proud and tell him it was worthwhile.
BD: Exactly.
DP: So if he built a tennis court or, you know, a badminton court, you would have been a great...
BD: I would have been a professional badmintoner.
DP: Badmintoner?
BD: Yes.

DP: Have you ever played a game with music in your head?
BD: Yep.
DP: And how does that work?
BD: I'm rapping. Sometimes I'm just rapping right on the court.
DP: When you're playing.
BD: Yes. You know, if I'm calling out a play or at the free-throw line I'm rapping in my head.
DP: Have you played against any of these rappers? Which rapper's got game? Because they all talk.
BD: Snoop had, like, 10 points against my summer-league team.
DP: But he could play.
BD: Yes. Snoop is all right ... Brian McKnight is probably one of the better players ... Ice Cube says he got a triple-double.
DP: Triple-double?
BD: Yes, he's got a triple-double playing pickup.
DP: There's no way. ... I could take him. I'd take him to the hole. I'd have no problem with that.
BD: Cube got a jumper though.
DP: He does?
BD: Yes.
DP: Well, that's all right, but can he play any D?
BD: Probably. That would be a good matchup, you and Ice Cube.
DP: You think?
BD: Yes.

DP: Favorite athletes from other sports?
BD: Roy Jones Jr.
DP: Did you want to be a boxer or do you just appreciate watching him?
BD: At one point I wanted to be a boxer.
DP: Could you see getting in the ring with Mike Tyson?
BD: Nope.
DP: So he scares you.
BD: Tyson, yes.
DP: So you're afraid of heights, afraid of water and afraid of Mike Tyson.
BD: I'm not afraid of him, like, out of the ring. But I wouldn't fight him.
DP: See, I'd be afraid of him out of the ring, too.
BD: No, he's a cool person out of the ring. He's a cool person.
DP: Give me a for instance.
BD: I mean, I've sat and talked to him for hours.
DP: About?
BD: Everything. He's a cool dude.
DP: Yes. Well, ...
BD: He's a cool dude.
DP: Yes. Well, maybe -- he wouldn't be that cool around regular people. I wouldn't be comfortable around him.
BD: I'm very comfortable around him. When I hurt my knee when I was in college, he was one of the guys who gave me some words of encouragement.
DP: Really.
BD: Yes, yes.
DP: Well, that's good.

DP: Did you think it was over when you blew your knee out?
BD: Yes, I did, but I didn't know -- you know what? I was so shocked. I had never been able to not play basketball, and to be out for eight months was tough.
DP: It was kind of freakish, wasn't it? I can remember when it happened.
BD: It happened when I dunked.
DP: Who's gotten the best facial from you on a dunk.
BD: Probably Vin Baker.
DP: Did you remind Vin of that?
BD: No.
DP: You don't even need to.
BD: No, I don't need to ... he thought he blocked it.
DP: So you're not even proud that you dunked on Vin Baker?
BD: Nah.
DP: That's not a big deal.
BD: Uh-uh.
DP: Who do you want to dunk on that you haven't?
BD: I want to dunk on Shaq. I tried one time.
DP: And?
BD: I got scared.
DP: Wait, did you get scared going up to dunk it?
BD: I went up to dunk on him and then just kind of tried to lay it up after that. I thought, if there's any type of contact I'm going to go flying all over this gym.
DP: So you chickened out on the way up?
BD: No, it was on my way down. It was in the summer at UCLA. I went up to dunk, I was going to dunk on him, but by the time I was coming down he was coming up, so I was like -- well, I'd better turn and lay this up before he breaks my arm.

DP: What skill do you want to acquire in the next five years -- nothing to do with your basketball game.
BD: To become more aware of my finances.
DP: So you want to be more financially savvy.
BD: Yes. More business savvy.
DP: So you don't want to learn cooking or painting or guitar.
BD: No, no.
DP: All about the money.
BD: It's all about helping create businesses to help my community.

DP: Were you nervous on "The Weakest Link?"
BD: Heck, yeah! It was way worse than playing in the NBA playoffs.
DP: But you lost to Snapper Jones.
BD: It was rigged. They asked me a question about "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." I was born in 1979, man! What history book is that in? Then they asked Snapper who led the Heat in blocks and rebounds in 1999! My grandmother could have gotten that -- Alonzo Mourning, man.

DP: Do you watch any old sitcoms?
BD: Yes.
DP: What's a show that you would watch that I would be surprised about?
BD: "I Love Lucy."
DP: You're a big "I Love Lucy" fan?
BD: No. Hell, no. I just have to watch it because my girlfriend makes me.
DP: Any other shows? Like, my kids watch "The Brady Bunch."
BD: "Sanford and Son."
DP: Yes.
BD: "The Cosby Show" ... let me think ... "Good Times" ... what's another ones? "The Three Stooges" ... oh, and "The Little Rascals." I'm a "Little Rascals" fan to the heart.
DP: Who do you identify with in "Little Rascals"?
BD: Probably Stymie.
DP: Stymie?
BD: Yes, that's what my auntie used to call me.
DP: Why?
BD: Maybe she thought I looked like him. My grandmother called me that ... like when I used to come in from playing, I'd be dirty.
DP: Filthy.
BD: Yes, and she used to call my Stymie.
DP: That's great.

DP: So are you ready to make Bourbon Street your permanent home?
BD: I'm ready to go wherever we're going to sell tickets.
DP: But does that bum you out? You probably thought, "Charlotte, they seem like they like basketball, they appreciate the game."
BD: Hey, we could play in Antarctica, man. I wouldn't care as long as we've got fans and we sell out every night.
DP: Is that the worst feeling -- to walk out into an empty arena?
BD: An empty arena, I think that's devastating.
DP: And you had that on that snowstorm night.
BD: But you know what, that was a good crowd. ... There were only 1,000 people so you could hear everything, and they were just really into it.

DP: Will you be disappointed if you end your career and you don't get a chance to play for the Lakers?
BD: No.
DP: Do you want to play for them? Or do you even care? Or do you want to play for the Clippers?
BD: I mean, I wouldn't mind playing at home. I think I would want to end my career playing at home.
DP: You would?
BD: Yes, but who knows where home's going to be for me.
DP: But if you go back to LA...
BD: Yes, LA would be sweet.
DP: They'd welcome you back as a hero. Of course, you'd be all beaten up and broken down.
BD: Yes, all bruised up. And old and nasty.

DP: What NFL quarterback do you think could be a great point guard? I asked Jason Kidd this ... because passers have to see the field, and you have to see the floor. Is there a parallel with that? Is it similar?
BD: Yes. There's a big similarity ... because you have to see plays before they happen. You have to be able to find a man when he's open.
DP: So who do you look at?
BD: Rich Gannon is sweet, and Donovan McNabb.
DP: McNabb played a little at Syracuse. Did you play basketball against him?
BD: I don't think so ... we [UCLA] beat the crap out of Syracuse, when I played against them.