I am on the Los Angeles Lakers practice squad.
I don’t travel with the team on road trips, and I make $50,000 to play alongside Devin and Joe on the third team. My primary job is to push the second squad and ensure that Shannon has enough practice dunking on live bodies. After competing at a high level in Division III college ball, I took a job working in the Staples Center Facility, and after two years of meeting the right people, I find myself running with some of the greatest in the game (or at least with those who themselves run with the greatest.)
I don’t have any rings on my fingers, nor does Phil acknowledge me in practice.
I am simply a soldier of the Lakers’ fortune.
After scrimmaging with the “Buss” boys (as I call them) for a few years now, I have come to know one or two things about what goes on behind closed doors, and more specifically, why the Lakers are playing as they have been for the past few weeks.
I am here to tell you that there is nothing wrong with the Lakers.
Understand this, when you've been to the highest level of competitive basketball and have been blessed to win a ring (let alone a five-finger one), you can't help but find it difficult to wake up to play the dregs of the league during the regular season. Now of course, I would kill to compete with the lowly Cavs or any of the other lottery-bound teams, but when I see the body language of the back-to-back champs, I can empathize. It's all relative.
What do I mean by "It's all relative?" A lot of the complaints with the Lakers does not have to do with the fact they don't come away with the win. It's that they just don't care. Let's bring this down to my level.
At times, I feel just as upset as any other fan when I see "the Buss Boys" take their b...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
