Well-loved Scalabrine learned to embrace White Mamba role

Former NBA player Brian Scalabrine talks to members of the press during his media availability at NBA’s Philippine headquarters on Thursday. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

In the NBA, there are polarizing players who receive both fame and infamy while there are those whose fan base only resides in their respective team’s cities.

Then there’s Brian Scalabrine, a perennial role player who in some way is universally loved in all of basketball circles.

Scalabrine, who played a stretch four, was never his team’s top player.  He usually entered the game as a substitute, but that doesn’t mean the man who has become known as the “White Mamba” didn’t get the loudest cheers.

“First, I was like ‘why am I getting extra attention when they [the fans] should be focusing on the team?’ and that lasted for like two years,” said Scalabrine during an interview at NBA’s Philippine headquarters in Bonifacio Global City Thursday.

Scalabrine, who is in the country for the NBA 3X happening this weekend, admitted he had come to embrace his role with any team he was playing for, even if he played mostly in garbage time with the game all but decided.

“I just totally embraced the fact that when I get into the game I would give people what they want, because they stick around, they cheer, so might as well give them a bucket or something like that.”

Scalabrine, who first played for the New Jersey Nets, received his god-like status when he signed with the Boston Celtics, where he won a title in 2008. And even though he moved to the Bulls in 2010, Scalabrine still enjoyed the cult following.

It also helped that all of Scalabrine’s teams, the Nets, Celtics, and Bulls, were all talent-laden clubs.

Scalabrine played with Jason Kidd with the Nets when they reached two consecutive finals in 2002 and 2003 and he had a chance to be teammates with the trio of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen in Boston.

During his time with Chicago, Scalabrine shared the floor with the young Derrick Rose,  who was named the MVP in 2011.

“For me to come into games, you’ve got to be on good teams because good teams beat people up by 15, 18, 20 points,” said Scalabrine, who is now an analyst at CSN.