Assist

Two teenage ballplayers shoot around in a membership fee gym. Tyus Smail asked. “So who is the leading scorer?”

“Tybo Sarington.”

“Who leads in assists?”

Doug Vinn grew quiet.

“Cloud Salters.”

“Oh, yeah. He’s nice. Isn’t he in the Hall of Fame?”

“Yes, he is but he doesn’t get his due. If he were like Sarington, then he would be talked about more.”

Vinn nodded in agreement. “Why do you think that it is?”

“Because most people are going irrationally selfish. The idea you hear all the time from announcers is ‘unselfish ballplay.’ It’s ‘selflessness in the court’ whenever someone passes the ball, even and especially when they’re wide open,” Smail pointed out.

“I can see that. We’re told ever since we’re little kids that we’re supposed to share. That we have to be unselfish. Then we grow up to find that is complete bullshit,”

Vinn explained.

“How have you been able to go this far without knowing that Salters was the reigning assists leader…by a lot. It’s not even close.”

“What does he have, maybe 30,000 assists?”

“34,324,” Smail corrected.

“Wow. I can’t believe he’s not mentioned amongst the GOATS,” Vinn observed.

“For all the talk about passing the ball and thinking of yourself last, people overlook that you’re being selfish for passing the ball. If a player is open for the shot, they should have possession. The passer should be championed for making the decision like a quarterback on the football field.”

Vinn raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that a mixed metaphor?”

“No. The point guard, often the one who sets the ball in play on offense, is like the QB on the gridiron. He or she is the one who controls the tempo and executes the plays. Salters proved time and again that he was an excellent ballplayer. Nobody cares because he wasn’t a lead scorer. The irony is that he’ll be cited for his on-court altruism rather than his thoughtfulness and selfishness in games. Because he didn’t shoot, and he had a wicked three-pointer, few care about the work he put in to becoming the greatest basketball player ever,” Smail asserted.

“You just said it.”

“Said what?”

Vinn tsked. “You just said that Salters is the greatest basketball player of all time. Of all time!”

“That’s right, I said it. Not because he’s selfish, sacrificial, or unselfish but because he was egoistic and selfish. He could read defenses and with pinpoint accuracy, he could rifle, scoop, and no-look pass to anyone who he thought would make the shot. Obviously with that many assists, he knew where the ball should go.”

Vinn shrugged. “It’s the amount of people that make a consensus. And no ball person is going to vote for Salters as the best player because the idea of unthinking selfishness is already on the table.”

“I don’t agree with you on that,” Smail countered. “I think that all people are either unselfish or selfish. Especially Salters. He’s the latter.”

“How so?”

“He could keep the flow of the offense to an excellent pace. His dynamic spins and ability to cut through the middle and dish out to his fellow players. He’s in the Hall, but I don’t want to be cynical, only for people to celebrate his ‘unselfishness.’ But folks are more concerned with scoring. That’s often the conversation: ‘Oh he isn't concerned with himself.’ ‘He spreading the ball around.’”

A laugh escaped from Vinn’s mouth. “That is true. People in their minds hold onto the idea that the lead scorer is superior to a wonderful passer.”

“You see? That’s why Salters is the best ever.”