‘Always be in the ballgame’: how bench players can tilt the NBA finals

B efore the 1982 NBA finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, Earl Cureton had no idea when he might play in the series. But instead of focusing on what he didn’t know, the backup forward-center for the Julius Erving-led Philadelphia 76ers focused on what he could. Stay ready, observe the game. Don’t lose sight of how to help, even in small doses. It doesn’t matter that you’re a reserve on the sidelines, Cureton told himself. Still, the experience was jarring; his first time in the league’s final series. The playoffs are a different animal compared to the regular season and the NBA finals are even more pressurized. Though this all swirled in Cureton’s mind some 40 years ago, the task remains the same for players today. Indeed, in this year’s NBA finals, players like Denver’s Bruce Brown Jr and Miami’s Duncan Robinson will undertake crucial roles coming off the bench for their squads. But what exactly does it take to excel as a backup in the league – especially in June?

“Your mental focus is the most important thing you have to sharpen when it comes to the playoffs,” Cureton tells the Guardian. “With my situation [in Philly], I never knew when I was going in. And you never know what’s going to happen – foul trouble, injuries. You have to prepare yourself like you’re going to be out there every single game.”

During the course of his career, the Detroit-born Cureton played in 54 playoff games (he started in four) with three different teams. During the regular season, Cureton started 137 games and played in a total of 674 on rosters with the likes of Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas and Muggsy Bogues. But Cureton says he approached NBA finals games like any other. The same pregame routine, the same warmups. The same research on