This was a Furry Basketball Commission for  steviemaxwell

Ricardo Rodrigues
Black Barbary Lion
Male
San Juan, PR
Puerto Rican
6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
250 lb (113 kg)


The earliest memory that little Ricardo could recall was staring up from his crib at his adopted father's ursine muzzle while clutching a small orange rubber ball in his kitten paws. And when his dad Arturo turned his head away for a moment, the little lion chucked the ball at the side of the bear's head as it bounced over and rattled around the lip of a nearby trash pail before falling in, earning a distant chuckle from whomever had distracted the grizzly and a smile on the feline's own muzzle.

Whether it was by destiny or dumb luck, an almost newborn Ricardo had shown up wrapped in a blanket and quilt on the doorstop of the Rodrigues' vacation beach house in Morocco. Arturo and his panda wife Maya instantly fell in love with the little kitten, and the grizzly consulted his lawyer as well as the local American embassy and the Casablanca authorities to hopefully start adoption procedures. A few tests and a brief investigation later, and the two new parents were flying back to their hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with a new son in tow.

While Arturo was quite well-off thanks to the success of his oil investments and fueling stations, his wife was a legislator in the city assembly. With her having to balance time to deal with the politics of her municipality as well as tending to a new mouth to feed, the grizzly took a greater share of raising the child. By the time Ricardo was ready to start school, the bear had already shown the lion plenty of athletic activities to fill his time.

Over the next dozen years Ricardo's barbary heritage began to show through, as puberty hit him hard and early with his body filling out into its adult shape by the 11th grade. Encouraged by his peers as well as his parents to continue his sporting endeavors, the feline found his attention gravitating towards basketball, as his large frame and towering height over others made it a good fit for him. By the time he enrolled at the Universidad del Peludo Rico in the nearby suburb of Bayamón, his skills in the front court were unmatched amongst his furry friends.

Despite failing to make the school's basketball team in his first year, he focused on both his studies towards a business management degree while also expanding his shooting range and honing his jumpshot. The lion also became close friends with a female baseball-playing capybara named Carmela Figueroa, who encouraged him to keep practicing. Upon seeing the improvement in his skills the next year, the coaches did put Ricardo on the bench squad but he saw few minutes during the season. The lion did train hard with the coaches every moment he could, picking up as many defensive tricks as possible from the various species, while concentrating more on nailing his longer ranged shots.

The next three years for Ricardo saw him coming off the bench a lot more often, not only to provide strong defense on the perimeter but also a deadly scoring option while he was camping along the arc. While he was as much of a baseball player as Carmela was a basketball player, the two would bounce ideas and run similar drills against each other. During the middle of his fifth year at the university, he made the starting line in the shooting guard position, and punished opponents for underestimating his ability to shoot from outside.

Just months before he was about to graduate, a sports agency from the United States contacted him about applying for the FBA Draft. Their representative met with Ricardo a few weeks later, and after little convincing agreed to set up a brief media package. When he told Carmela of his intentions to join the FBA, she then told him that the same sports agency had just met with her about applying to the FLB amateur draft. The two wished each other luck and hoped for the best.

Artwork done by myself  lizzimba
Colouring by the excellent  crazy-husky
FBA is copyright to  buckhopper
Ricardo copyright to  steviemaxwell