Posted on 03/04/2009 12:11:45 PM PST by ventanax5
Out of Duke University. . . . A 6-foot-8-inch forward. . . .
He had more or less admitted to me that this part of his job left him cold. ‘It’s the same thing every day,’ he said, as he struggled to explain how a man on the receiving end of the raging love of 18,557 people in a darkened arena could feel nothing. “If you had filet mignon every single night, you’d stop tasting it.”
To him the only pleasure in these sounds — the name of his beloved alma mater, the roar of the crowd — was that they marked the end of the worst part of his game day: the 11 minutes between the end of warm-ups and the introductions. Eleven minutes of horsing around and making small talk with players on the other team. All those players making exaggerated gestures of affection toward one another before the game, who don’t actually know one another, or even want to. “I hate being out on the floor wasting that time,” he said. “I used to try to talk to people, but then I figured out no one actually liked me very much.” Instead of engaging in the pretense that these other professional basketball players actually know and like him, he slips away into the locker room.
Shane Battier!
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Too bad he couldn’t take those ACC refs wuth him to the NBA. He would have a ring by now.
I only read part of the article but they could have been writing about almost any white NBA player.....the bread and butter players who for the most part don’t get the accolades....
Oh really, any white player in the NBA has a career +/- of +6 per game?
Yes. Because we all know it’s the refs. /s
Battier is half white.
I know. So what? He’s probably the most underrated player in the NBA.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.