The Secret Sauce to Player Survival in the NBA

Health and safety concerns have ravaged NBA rosters. But the silver lining has been the opportunities it has opened up for seldom-used players, a reminder of the value in preparing for the unexpected.

For years, the problems of the world would get the NBA’s attention but never to the point where it became their problem, too.

And along came the coronavirus, the global game-changer.

Now we’re dealing with coronavirus variants such as Delta and omicron whose impact has forced several teams to rule players out for a period of time and place them in the league’s health and safety protocol program.

The one silver lining in all this is that with the ever-increasing number of players who have to sit out games for health and safety reasons, it opens the door for seldom-used players or those who fell out of favor, an opportunity to play.

Those who have patiently waited for an opportunity to play, understand how the moment they get on the court should not be taken for granted.

The power of preparation should never be taken for granted, be it basketball, basket-weaving, or babysitting.

In the NBA, we have seen what that looks like recently with former two-time All-Star Isaiah Thomas getting a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Lakers whose roster has been ravaged by injuries as well as players having to be placed in health and safety protocol.

Despite his success as a player, teams have been reluctant to sign the 32-year-old Thomas. That didn’t deter him from staying in shape and working on his game so that when his opportunity to play came - and you know it did - he was ready.

In his first game with an NBA team this season, Thomas scored 19 points off the Lakers bench in just 22 minutes.

We saw something similar to that in Boston on Friday night when the New York Knicks were in town.

Former Celtic Kemba Walker, a four-time All-Star, was banished to the back of the Knicks roster about a month ago which led to him not playing (coaches decision) in nine straight games.

That’s the longest stretch of games he did not play that did not involve an injury.

Several New York players were ruled out for an assortment of reasons in order for Walker to get another shot at getting on the court.

And like Thomas, Walker also made the most of his opportunity.

He scored a season-high 29 points in the Knicks loss, a game Boston won in part because of at least one other player who, like Walker, had also seen his role dramatically reduced.

That would be Boston’s Payton Pritchard who was once thought of as a key role player off the bench who has struggled to find his niche with this team and do so consistently.

Boston has several players in the league’s health and safety protocol program, which meant more minutes for Pritchard.

He didn’t disappoint, scoring 16 points off the bench in a season-high 28 minutes.

The actual performances by all these players, while impressive, don't do justice to what's really going on here.

They recognized the secret sauce in their recipe for success (it applies to the rest of us non-NBA players, too), involves preparation not only for their current role but also the role they want going forward.

We’re talking about it in the context of the NBA.

But that same principle should be applied to all walks of life because none of us know when the opportunity we're seeking, will present itself.

The only thing we can control is our readiness for it.

Are you ready?