Role Players

["Jeremy P. Ryan" <jeryan@mailbox.syr.edu>]

I have to disagree with the last statement. There are many high-priced
role players out there, like Charles Oakley, Antonio Davis, Dale Davis,
Chris Dudley, and many others. It doesn't really have much to do with
salary, but with intelligence and selflessness. Role players know their
role (hence the name) on their team and usually don't try to do more than
they're capable of. Usually that involves hustle work like defense and
rebounding. Even Dennis Rodman, though I hate to admit it, can be called a
role player, albeit the most famous one in the league. These players fit
into a mold where they don't need the ball in their hands in order to have
an impact on the game. That may be the ultimate definition of a role
player.

I do not consider the Chief a role player. He did swallow his pride and
ego some times in order to let Bird, McHale and others do the scoring and
get the praise, but I believe he was a player who could take over a game
on any given night if need be. A true role player simply cannot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Jeremy P. Ryan
  jeryan@mailbox.syr.edu

  Boston Celtics -- 16 NBA World Championships
  Syracuse Orangemen -- 1996 NCAA Final Four
  New York Yankees -- 1996 World Series Champions  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> > Chief was not a roll player he was a superstar.  He will certainly be in

> Arrggh!  Sorry, folks, for letting this bother me so much, but...
> A "roll player" is someone who tries to make music with dinner rolls.
> A "role player" is what teams try to get when they can't spend much money.

> Jon Mc