The Business of Being a Bench 'Superman' in the NBA

Playing in the NBA is a privilege earned by and reserved for only the world's most elite basketball players. Starting is a privilege among the privileged.

But coming off the bench has its perks. For Jamal Crawford—who spent the first nine years of his pro career as a starter before becoming a full-time bench guy for the Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers—spinning that apparent demotion into a prominent promotion made all the difference.

"I was like, 'Okay, well, you've got to be Superman. Superman's coming in to save the day!'" Crawford told Bleacher Report. "It's just something mentally that messed with me that I don't feel like a scrub coming off the bench."

Apparently, playing the part of second-unit hero doesn't appeal to everyone. The league's offseason saw a slew of players much younger than Crawford—most notably Reggie Jackson, Dion Waiters and J.R. Smith—lobby for consideration in their respective squads' starting fives. Each of those three has gotten his wish, in one way or another, so far this season.

"It's hard to play in this league, and it's hard to start in this league," said Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks, who started just seven times in 714 combined regular-season and playoff games in his day. "I want all players to have aspirations to start. If you think that you shouldn't start, you're probably not the player that you should be.In Crawford's case, it's an honor when he gets to play major minutes alongside the likes of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Waiters had his turn to run with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love when the Cleveland Cavaliers' campaign began, but he has since been shuttled back to the bench. Smith found himself on the pine once again when Iman Shumpert returned from injury for the New York Knicks. Jackson started 13 games this season with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant sidelined, but has since resumed his sixth-man role.

Andre Roberson may be far from a superstar in OKC, but that didn't stop him from all but sewing up a starting spot on the wing for the Thunder prior to spraining his left foot in early November.

"It means a lot," Roberson said. "Especially me being a young player in this league, trying to solidify my role, going out there, playing as hard as I can, defending my butt off, rebounding, just going out there and fight for my team is what I'm here to do, whether I'm starting or not. It just means a lot to me that I am, and going out there and giving my all."

Frankly, Roberson is at the age where he should be pushing for a starting role. He's still exceedingly young, having just turned 23 in his second NBA season. Like so many players in their early 20s, Roberson has yet to reach his ceiling, let alone hit his head on it.

The younger NBA players are, the closer they are to their college days when a starting role was never in question.

"I had never come off the bench before," said Crawford, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, when asked whether starting was of any import to him when he entered the league in 2000.

Doc Rivers, Crawford's head coach with the Clippers, spent most of his playing career as a starter prior to joining the San Antonio Spurs in 1994. Rivers, then 33, had to adjust to coming off the bench, if only because Father Time had rendered him unfit to shoulder a starter's burden.

"I didn't know any other way," Rivers said. "I started after my fifth game as a rookie because somebody got hurt, and I never stopped starting until my 12th year in the league with the Spurs when I was so old I shouldn't have even been coming off the bench at that point."

 Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2260201-the-business-of-being-a-bench-superman-in-the-nba