Carrick Felix, Cleveland Cavliers, NBA draft 2013

Cavaliers rookie Carrick Felix, shown slamming in a game against UCLA last season, at one time thought his future was in skateboarding.

(AP file)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Basketball was not Carrick Felix's first love.

Believe it or not, the Cavaliers rookie swingman initially wanted to make his living on a skateboard.

"I wanted to be the next Tony Hawk,'' he said, referring to the most famous skateboarder in the world.

From the age of 7, when a neighbor kid on a skateboard landed in Felix's front yard outside Phoenix, until his junior year in high school, Felix was on his board all day every day. "i was always outside practicing from 7 o'clock in the morning to 12 o'clock at night,'' he admitted.

But by 11th grade he started to focus on basketball, eventually earning a scholarship to Arizona State. He found that some skateboard skills involving balance and footwork actually transferred quite naturally to basketball. Then in his sophomore year with the Aztecs, his coaches suggest he put the board away.

"The skateboard is off limits,'' Felix said, laughing. "I still have it in my room. I never get on it [but] it's always fun to look at.''

It looked like fun that day the neighbor wound up in the yard.

"I was a nosy little kid, I went over and asked him 'What is that? Can I get on it?''' Felix recalled. "He taught me how to ride it, balance on it, I just fell in love with it.''

He begged his mother nonstop for two days to buy him his own board. She finally relented, and Felix spent the next 10 years becoming an expert. He had sponsors and everything. His best trick was a complicated one on a railing, which likely would cause the Cavs coaches and general manager Chris Grant to close their eyes and cross their fingers.

But not to worry. Felix is all about basketball now. Heading into training camp, which begins Oct. 1, he has been working to improve his game since the Cavs somewhat surprisingly made him the No. 33 pick in the NBA Draft at the end of June. The defensive-minded Felix has been concentrating on improving his shot, working on his own and with coaches across the country.

He got a good NBA preview during the summer league in Las Vegas, where he learned the game is a lot faster than he realized. Since that ended in July, he has been itching to get going.

"The summer has gone by so fast,'' he said.

He may find that the fall and winter go a little more slowly. Not only is there the grind of his first NBA season, but he will be separated from his 1-year-old daughter Zayah, who lives in Idaho with her mother. Felix said he and his daughter Face Time every day.

"It's definitely hard, but it's motivation for me,'' said Felix, who has a bachelor's degree in communications and a master's degree in liberal arts and sciences from ASU. "My daughter's going to know that all I'm doing is for her. Dad's got to go to work. This is something I've got to do now. This is my job.''