Rooting for nobodys

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes 4 seconds

When thinking about professional sports – say, the NBA – you think about sportsade endorsements, night club entourages, all-star games, Sportscenter highlights and theatrically overblown pre-game introductions.

But for all the famously overpaid, pampered, super celebristars, there are a couple guys on every team that sit at the end of the bench wearing their warm-ups throughout the game. They never get introduced before tipoff and rarely even play.

Although it may seem obvious and uninsightful, that guy, the guy who remains anonymous to fans and media plays on an NBA team.

That guy defied serious odds to make it to the most elite point possible.

At every level he played at – junior leagues, high school, college – he was likely the best player on the team, way ahead of the competition.

Right now he could walk in to any gym or crash any pickup game in the world and be the best player on the floor if not outright dominating. He’s a better player than 99.7 percent of people who have ever picked up a basketball.

Despite all of this, to most fans he “sucks.” He sits the bench. Not only is he not the star of his team, he hardly contributes anything. And if he does play, it is only because the score is so lopsided that his presence on the court will not have any effect on the game’s final outcome.

Among his peers, he is paid the least (albeit hundreds of thousands a year) and plays the least.

He has immense talent in some respects and zero talent in others. He suits up in front of thousands of people three times a week yet remains a nobody.

And while the salary probably makes the medicine go down, I can’t help but feel a little for these guys. They’ve made it to the pinnacle of basketball but on some levels are failures.

So the next time I go to an NBA game, I’m not going to cheer for the superstars. They have enough people who know them, love them and cheer them. After all, they’re in the NBA and they’re successful.