Every basketball player out there plans to one day play in the NBA. It’s the biggest basketball league in the world and a great way for athletes to showcase their talent to the entire world.
But the job is not finished just after entering the league. If anything, that’s when a player’s real journey starts. The next goal is for them to become successful in the NBA and work hard to be considered an all-time great.
However, what are the parameters that play a role in determining a player’s greatness in the league? Is it the number of years they have played in the NBA, or is it how many points they have to their name?
Well, in all honesty, there are a bunch of variables that need to be taken into consideration to determine the legacy of an NBA player. But the biggest thing that factors in is winning the NBA Championship.
Yes, no matter how great a player was during his prime, after retirement, NBA fans will only remember him as a great if he managed to win a ring in the league. Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas recently shed some light on the same and explained why winning a ring is important for an NBA player.
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The people you put in front of me are not even close to my stature, but because they got a ring, they get pushed in front of me. … You force us to when y’all be like you gotta win, you know.
He continued, “They would put somebody who has 20 years in the league, won five rings, they got a total of 9,000 points. He is more valuable than 26,000 points and no ring.
Arenas explained this after the topic of Charles Barkley was started. He mentioned that NBA players notice how much Chuck is laughed off at due to the simple fact that he failed to win a ring.
This is the reason that Arenas believes winning a ring is very important for players to establish their legacies in the NBA. If they fail to do so, they might end up becoming a laughing stock for the media.
