Bo Hamburger
Years ago
Riding with Rik Smits - plus new TV show idea
Whatever happened to Rik Smits?
Thanks to Deadspin, we now know he's riding dirt bikes, that's what.
It's not a regular sport for a 7-4 man. Smits has racing boots specially made to accommodate his size 20 feet. His celebrity status has attracted a clothing sponsor, Metro Racing, which keeps him properly outfitted, but he has to modify his motorcycles.
Other notables in the article:
- Smits still hoops, in a rec league twice a week.
He mostly hangs around the perimeter and shoots jumpers, "unless we really need a basket," in which case he heads to the low post.
- His son's name is Derrik. I prefer to think of this as two words, not one. As in: Der, Rik!
I'm going to pitch this as an idea right now for a ESPN-type show - I'll call it "Kickin' On". (Long title: "Kickin' On: how NBA players go from earning squillions and being revered around the globe to ordinary blokes struggling like the rest of us").
It's going to be a half-hour show featuring three 10-minute spots on former NBAers and what they do now.
Week One's show:
1) Rik Smits riding dirt bikes
2) Michael Jordan in a corner of a dirty Las Vegas casino betting on something, anything
3) Some second-tier player who thought he was a lot better player than he was now flipping burgers or driving school buses, and saying one or more of the following quotes:
"They told me I'd never make it to the NBA, but I proved them wrong"
"These young kids in the NBA today, all they care about is making as much money as they can, getting' wid da women, playing basketball..."
(Pause)
"...but they gotta understand that there's life after basketball, and that if they don't prepare themselves, then BAM!, they wind up worse off then when they started."
"I don't want what happened to me to happen to anyone else."
Which other ex-NBAers would be worthy of appearing in this show?
