Wallace believes more kids should study the career of Brian Scalabrine.
Brian Scalabrine was never the most talented player on any of the teams he played for.
He wasn’t that athletic, his IQ was subpar and his skills were mediocre (for an NBA player).
He spent most of his career coming off of the bench and his entire career as a role player.
And he gets a lot of disrespect for this.
“Fans” are constantly mocking his lack of basketball skills and saying that he doesn’t deserve his 2008 NBA championship ring because he didn’t play a single minute with the Boston Celtics during their run.
But according to NBA champ and 4-time All-Star Rasheed Wallace, Scalabrine is a player more kids should be studying if they want to go pro.
On an episode of Sheed and Tyler, Wallace said that scouts aren’t just looking at a player’s basketball skills and physical conditioning. They’re also looking at their attitude and how they treat their teammates and opponents.
And a guy who showed exceptional professionalism and sportsmanship -a guy young players should be observing- is Scalabrine.
“The White Mamba -that’s my guy right there. Scalabrine wasn’t a great or big NBA talent, but he was good enough to make the league and he was a great locker-room guy. He had a knock-down jump shot, played defence and never caused problems in the locker room.”
Wallace continued by saying that because Scalabrine was a stand-up guy, he was able to have a long and fruitful career in the NBA -on and off the court.
“He got paid, won a ring, and [now doing] analytic work with Boston, and that’s from being a good guy. He ain’t in no NBA records for threes or the points or rebounds -he’s just a good guy. And they kept him around. [He] didn’t cause trouble; positive attitude. And I tell kids, ‘You can get paid like that, too.”
Scalabrine played 11 years in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets, Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls.
He holds career averages of 3.1 points and 2.0 rebounds.
Final Thoughts
A lot of kids need to realize this.
They need to realize that being respectful and having good sportsmanship is just as important as being able to shoot and jump high.
Because -and this could just be my observations- a lot of kids today have bad attitudes. They fight with their teammates, they discourage them, and they show their opponents little respect.
They’re straight-up poor sports.
It’s toxic and I think if they realize that being a good guy can get you places, they’ll be more inclined to do so.
Sorry about the rant. But what are your thoughts?