Modest beginnings can still lead to grand endings.
In the fall of 2010, Scottie Pippen was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame. That capped a 17-year NBA career where he was a seven-time all-star and six-time world champion.
But as a rookie, Pippen, who was selected fifth overall in the 1987 NBA draft, came off the bench. Then Bulls coach, Doug Collins, opted to start Brad Sellers ahead of Pippen. Sellers was a high draft pick as well, selected ninth overall a year earlier. However, unlike Pippen, Sellers NBA career wasnt memorable and didnt have longevity. He played six seasons and had a career average of 6.3 points per game.
Still, Sellers can say he was an NBA starter alongside Michael Jordan. He can also say that for a year Scottie Pippen was his backup.
Second-year wingman Evan Turner, in Collins mind, is a starter. He has worked hard and is talented enough to be in the Sixers starting lineup. However, Turner comes off the bench as a reserve.
It is a topic that irks some, confuses others and exasperates Collins.
I told Evan the other day in front of the team, I said you probably were our hardest worker in the off-season with one goal in mind: to be a starter on this team, Collins said. You are a starter. As one of our better players you are a starter, but what you do for our team with Thad (Young) and Lou (Williams), if I were to put Jodie (Meeks) in your spot and you in his, we are not as good a team because Jodie would get lost with Lou and Thad.
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It makes sense because of the style of play. With Meeks a starter, the Sixers first unit plays mainly through the post. Meeks spreads the floor and Elton Brand gets things going by posting up the opposition.
Meanwhile, the reserves are built to be runners. Williams, Young and Turner can really push the pace, while complimenting one another with their individual skill-set.
We have eight guys on this team that could start, Collins said. It is up to me to put the puzzle together and to do that you have to have people who trust you enough that you are doing it for the right reasons.
From that thinking came the Sixers mantra: Believe in your role, stay in your role, star in your role.
That is exactly what Turner intends to do this season.
I am definitely looking forward to this year, and hopefully I keep getting minutes and able to contribute, Turner said after averaging a team-high 31 minutes in the two preseason games. I just want to be out there when it matters.
Collins wants him out there when it matters, as well.
If Evan can really continue to focus, especially on the defensive end late in games, then I want him out on that floor, Collins said. He is one of my best free throw shooters and one of my best rebounders.
What stands between Turner and that laser sharp focus his coach is looking for is an active mind. Collins admits keeping that activity reigned in is constantly on his to-do list, but a year of experience in the league could hopefully cut down on Turners brain activity.
Everything was new to Turner a year ago. It is no surprise that he is looking forward to doing the NBA circuit for a second time.
For someone like me, already understanding situations and how key every little play or detail is definitely helps a lot, Turner said. Playing on the west coast needs adjusting, so that is good to know.
The Sixers are enthusiastic and optimistic about getting the season underway. Last year, this group finished with a .500 record. Bigger and better is the hope for 2012.
We arent star driven but we are very good player driven, Collins said.Hopefully, some of our guys will eventually become all-stars.
If Turner truly follows in Pippens footsteps that will just be one accomplishment on the way to a stellar NBA career.
E-mail Dei Lynam at dlynam@comcastsportsnet.com.