Jason Terry was grilling everyone. What was your breakout moment? Down the line they went. For John Wall, it was a summer in high school. For Isaiah Thomas, it was his freshman year at Washington. For Ramon Sessions, his moment came on April 14, 2008. That night, he was the tide that probably tilted your fantasy championship, gobbling up not just 20 points and eight rebounds, but 24 DIMES. That’s his moment, he said, the day when everything clicked.
Everyone gave their moment to the crowd in the gym, but no one triggered as much applause as Sessions, who in just one year went from playing in the D-League to setting team records with the Milwaukee Bucks.
A few weeks ago, I spent the day out at Reebok Headquarters in Canton, Mass. and got to watch some full-court games and go through cross training workouts with not just Sessions, but John Wall, Jameer Nelson, Isaiah Thomas and four high school standouts from the Reebok Breakout Challenge.
And during my time with Sessions, we talked Cleveland and his rags-to-riches story.
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Dime: Talk about this Reebok Challenge event. What has it been like mingling with the kids?
Ramon Sessions: It’s been good. Anytime you can get younger guys in that are trying to get to where you’re at, just to talk to them and see the excitement on their face. It reminds me of when I was young. If I ever had an opportunity like this, it would’ve been huge. Coming from a small town you don’t get as much exposure as from a bigger city. There’s diamonds in the rough. Those kids can play and this is a great thing for them.
Dime: When you were in high school – you said you’re from a small town – were you heavily recruited?
RS: No. Not at all, same situation as those guys. A couple of smaller schools in-state were recruiting me, but it wasn’t nothing big. Everybody always asks me how I got into Nevada from South Carolina so there you go. It just shows you that I was a late bloomer and it worked out for the best though.
Dime: Coming up as a small kid being exposed to some bigger events, how were you able to get an attitude to where you could stick out? Sometimes those things can be overwhelming for someone from a small area…
RS: I just always said I was doing it for my hometown because there weren’t many guys who were fortunate enough. I did go to Nike one year and was going to Vegas to play in tournaments. I just always said that I’m going to prove to these guys that hey, being from a small town that doesn’t mean anything. I was the first player to ever go into the NBA from my town but I wasn’t going to let that hold me down when I was growing up. People used to say “You ain’t gonna make it. You are from a small town.” That’s always driven me to be the player that I am today.
Dime: Going forward in Cleveland, you guys now have Irving, Baron Davis…
RS: We loaded (laughs)
Dime: …and with you, that’s three point guards who all need minutes. What do you think is going to happen with that?
RS: Shhhh… I don’t have a clue to be honest. They drafted Irving, who is a great player. Me and BD are still there and we both still can go. It’s going to be a situation where we get in and grind it out and see what happens.
Dime: Last year obviously was tough in the city of Cleveland. Have you been back there since the season ended?
RS: Yeah, I’ve been back there a few times. But you say all those games we were losing, but we were getting 19-20,000 in there every night. They were coming to support us. It was a great thing for us having them in there and they were just sticking in with us. But you know next year will be a way different year. Last year was a learning experience and next year it’ll be a lot different.
Dime: What about Cleveland as a city? What are some of the spots you like to check out?
RS: There’s a couple of spots downtown. XO, a nice little restaurant downtown. There’s a Sushi Rock downtown when it ain’t snowing out. It snows a lot out there but city-wise, it’s a small, little city. Blue-collar-type city, but the fans are great for us.
Dime: How’s the weather compare to South Carolina?
RS: Day and night.
Dime: How do you deal with that?
RS: It’s different, but I was in Minnesota, Milwaukee (laughs) so Cleveland was almost like “Oh, this ain’t too bad.” But you just adjust to it while you’re in town.
Dime: As far as your game individually, do you set goals for yourself every few years or really anything to kind of judge yourself by to make sure you’re going the way you wanna go?
RS: I don’t necessarily set goals and say what I’m gonna do two or three years from now. I just take it day-by-day and just try to work on everything. To be a complete player, you got to be able to do everything. There’s no perfect player in the league, so I just try to work on everything and take it day-by-day and try to get better each day.
Who should start this year in the Cleveland backcourt?
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