NBA All-Star Baron Davis on His Web3 Journey

Regulators are not just going after banks, they're going after celebrities. The SEC has settled with Kim Kardashian and is now going after NBA Hall of Famer, Paul Pierce for allegedly making misleading statements about crypto asset securities. Is that going to make celebrities pause before entering the crypto space? Well, joining us now to discuss is a celebrity, former NBA all star and serial baron Davis Baron. Great to have you joining us. Uh So recent news from the SEC is that they're suing Celtics legend Paul Pierce for his Ethereum Max promotions. What are your thoughts on celebrity endorsements of crypto products? Uh will, will, will there be a chilling effect because of uh heightened regulatory scrutiny? Uh I think, you know, really to start it off, you have to look at what athletes, what celebrities are used to, they're used to brand and marketing deals, they're used to getting paid to promote companies. And so I think that's where the mistake happened. You know, there wasn't enough education, there wasn't enough attention to details. And so you get things like that, I think going forward, you know, uh when it comes from an athlete or it comes from a celebrity or someone who has real utility, you know, there's an actual, you know, reward exchange and opportunity to be in a club, I think, um, you know, going forward, you're gonna see more creative projects out of celebrities and athletes bringing you directly, you know, to their fan base to their ecosystem. Just one more question on that topic. I mean, you're obviously in this world of, you know, we've seen with the market going down, like there's just been a lot less enthusiasm with celebrity endorsements like the Super Bowl had like a ton of ads last year and done this year. Um I'm just curious, like in your circle in your world, among your friends, are you noticing this, are people losing interest in crypto and NFTS or is it still kind of staying the same? I would say it's, uh it's a little above, right? Uh When you think about the people who are on the fence who are curious about it, um You know, I think just the negative connotations of the wording has um let people astray, but then you still see people, you know, especially in sports space, especially in the Hollywood space. Uh trying to figure out, you know, uh how the best way, the best ways to use, you know, NF and crypto in their daily walk and in their daily space. All right. But amid all in, amid all this sentiment in this environment, you're actually launching slick images which stands for sports, lifestyle and culture and it's a rights management platform for photographers. So what, what is it that compelled you to create something that prioritizes ownership for photographers? And what does Blockchain, what role does Blockchain play in it? Uh I think for slick images, it was really about, you know, how can we foster a platform and give opportunities and rights to, you know, photographers, you know, uh pitcher says 1000 words, photographers has always captured athletes and celebrities and it's a great way for us to build an ecosystem. And so thinking about Blockchain, you know, you're really just thinking about building out a core database and, and publishing uh back in that allows these photographers to be able to license their photos now on social media now for, you know, uh magazines, things of that nature for content purposes. And so with slick images, it was really just let's bring the photographer to the forefront, let's bring the people who are captured in these moments and these images images because they're moments in time and let's build out a library and a database to um be able to help them. So you have a uh you know, you're going up against uh you, you have the likes of like, let's say Flickr where people uh a lot of amateur or professional photographers who aren't big names who are trying to break in, they'll, they'll post a lot of their photos and have them tagged and, and, and make it searchable. Uh There's some others like Pixie Bay, things like that where they might use some of their photos for stock and then uh others to be licensed. And so you, you, you, you contact the photographer that way, how will photographers that are using Slick, get their word, get the word out that their photos are there to be licensed. Uh How does that work? Is it searchable? Uh uh you know, what do they have to direct people to their Slick profile? What happens? Uh It's a combination of both. So uh what we're building is slick is really an ecosystem. And uh what photographers haven't had is the ability to be marketed or have content, you know, that um that speaks to them and speaks to who they are and give them the platform. So on top of, you know, creating a profile, bringing people back their, their uh their own publishing site, right? Uh the photographer will have the ability to license out uh but also submit licenses uh for film TV, things of that nature as well. So, you know, uh our platform uh and the robust version is having the ability to sign up for jobs to be a part of uh you know, things like an all-star weekend or to be a part of, you know, a movie premiere or even uh on a movie set. So it's, so our platform really is uh a way to shepherd in photographers and to bring them closer into more of a content ecosystem in a studio outside of just a database of photos that you can license. Baron. So you spent 13 years in the NBA before creating Black Santa, the more than us Adventure studio and now slick images. I wonder if you could reflect on how your career as an athlete transformed into this career as a creator in the web Three Space and a bit about your cryptogenic story here. Yeah, I would say for me, uh I've always been a serial entrepreneur when it wasn't, when it wasn't fun to do that in the NBA. I was always a creator. I did documentaries and you know, directed Reebok commercials. So I was always, you know, one to like, want to create. Uh And I think when I was in the NBA, it was looking at, you know, how can I build a production company? Uh I built Black Santa, you know, how can I build IP and you know, just like any other person that, you know, was trying to be a part of Holywood, try to, you know, market to uh brands for commercials or creatives, you just find yourself bumping into a wall and it's a huge ecosystem of people. Um And so for me, it was like, oh when crypto came along, this is an opportunity for me to explore my creativity, to get IP out and really like build a fan base of creators of builders and a network of fans uh and, and other celebrities and creators that we can actually have control, you know, of the distribution channels and the things that we want to build with our fans. Awesome. Well, Baron, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck on this new venture of yours. That was former NBA all Star and serial entrepreneur, Baron Davis.