Ricky Ledo Speaks On Working With God Shammgod, Beating John Wall 1 on 1 & Transition To Pro Basketball
Transition is never an easy thing in life but its a process everyone goes through several times throughout the course of their life. An adjustment period takes place in this transition and the duration of that lasts depending on the type of person and their ability to learn. For Dallas Mavericks guard Ricky Ledo the transition from high school to the NBA has been an obscure one to say the least. The native of Providence, Rhode Island was a star at South Kent High School just 2 years ago and now he finds himself scrounging for minutes and a consistent role with the Dallas Mavericks. How exactly did we get to this point?
Ledo was very well-traveled during his high school basketball days as he attended 4 different schools in 3 different states. The destinations in which Ledo tore up the New England high school basketball circuit were Bishop Hendricken (Rhode Island), St. Andrews (Rhode Island), Notre Dame Prep (Massachusetts) and South Kent (Connecticut). No matter where he took his talents Ledo always managed to standout among a crowd of talented basketball players. In 2011 he attended the Kevin Durant skills academy where he manage to impress scouts and be recognized as a top talent while being among top prospects like Jabari Parker, Gary Harris and Amile Jefferson.
At that 2011 visit to the Kevin Durant skills academy Ricky Ledo was recognized by ESPN as one of the top 3 shooters there. Reggie Rankin of ESPN said “Ledo has great size and athletic ability. He can score in a variety of ways and has NBA range on his jumper”. So back then we knew Ledo had a very nice skill set and all signs pointed to him being in the NBA sooner rather than later but his road to the NBA was a tricky one.
Ledo would commit to stay home and play for the Providence Friars but would never see one minute of action in a Friars jersey. He was deemed academically ineligible and had to sit out the entire year which was tough on him. At the end of the season he would declare for the NBA draft and many experts had him going late in the first round but his draft stock would plummet due to lack of game film of him since high school.
Much like his high school playing days Ledo would move around frequently on draft night. He was drafted in the 2nd round with the 43rd overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks. He didn’t have too much time to get comfortable in his Bucks snapback as his rights were traded to the Philadelphia 76ers and then finally to the Dallas Mavericks. It was a tough situation for him coming in, the Mavs had a bunch of proven veterans at virtually every position so it’s been tough for Ledo to see any consistent time in the rotation. So he has had to go down to the Mavericks D-League affiliate and pay his dues with the Texas Legends.
Bobby Karalla of Mavs Outsider chronicled the tumultuous travel of Ledo as well as the back and forth from D-League to the NBA. It’s tough to get any rhythm established in basketball when you don’t have a set role with a team and are constantly on the move. One night Ledo can find himself in the heart of Dallas suiting up for the Mavericks and the next he can find himself on a flight to Idaho back in the D-League. Its been that kind of year for the kid from Providence but he won’t complain. When you spend a year away from playing basketball and are making the transition to pro ball its a good thing to still be in a situation where you can play against guys who have been in the league on a nightly basis.
Ricky has had 6 different assignments to the D-League and has played every position from point guard to power forward so its been the ultimate learning experience for him. He is always one of the first players on the court to get shots up before the game starts. You can tell he is hungry to succeed at the next level just by looking at him. So if anything this year with the Legends is a stepping stone to something greater with the Mavs next year.
Ledo’s numbers in the D-League don’t jump off the page but he has had his fair share of great performances in a Texas Legends uniform. Ricky is currently averaging 12.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists in an average playing time of 28.7 minutes per game. He is shooting 39 % from the field and 31% from beyond the arc. Nothing impressive but keep in mind that this is a player who basically making the jump from high school to the NBA which is a substantial difference in size, speed, strength and skill set that takes time to get used to. In his March 6th game versus the Iowa Energy Ledo had himself a game with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal in a Legends 126-119 victory.
So we know Ledo’s year has been very crazy, we know this is all a huge transition for him but there is so many intriguing things about him. None of us know what his ceiling is at the NBA level because he didn’t play a single minute of college basketball and this is the first time the public has seen Ledo play for an extended period of time since 2012. We just know he was a top 25 recruit, he went toe to toe John Wall in a random pick up game and that some people have compared his skill set to that of a Kevin Durant.
Ledo also worked with legendary ball handler and fellow Providence Friar God Shammgod. When I asked Ricky about what Shammgod did for the improvement of his game he said “We used to workout at Providence and I feel like he got me a lot better also”. Shammgod handles the basketball with such ease like many New York City ballers do, he is silky smooth with his handles and you can see a bit of the Shammgod influence in Ledo’s game.
So Ledo is still a huge question mark to many pundits in the basketball world but nobody is questioning the level of talent this man brings to the table. He says he likes playing in Frisco for the Legends but won’t make it his home for to long. The goal is to turn the questions into answers and electrify the crowds at the American Airlines Center as opposed to Dr. Pepper Arena. I got a chance to speak to Ricky following a recent Legends game and we got to chop it up about his transition to the league, playing John Wall and working with God Shammgod in my video interview with him down below.
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Brendan Taylor