5 Types of Teammates

Basketball is a team sport and teammates come in all shapes, sizes and character. It is often interesting to hear some of the stories about them. Here are some of the stereotypes that we may hear or personally know of.

Type 1: The Sorry Man

This guy is someone you can’t really hate, but sometimes you may want to strangle him. His first reaction to everything is to apologize. He feels guilty for everything that happens, whether it is his fault or not. Throws a pass you fail to catch (because you are looking at the girl on the opponent’s bench), lets your guy score when he goes to help you cover, misses an open shot, etc. Suffers from a lack of confidence generally.

Common phrases: “Sorry!” “My Bad!” “Totally my fault.”

Type 2: The Egomaniac

Everything is about him, and him. He wants every ball to be passed to him. When he scores, he makes sure everyone on the court knows about it. To him, teammates are there to make him look good and if they don’t, he makes sure they hear about it. Suffers from no lack of confidence. Overblown ego may sometimes burst in his face when he meets a stronger player who kicks his butt.

Common phrases: “Pass, pass!” “Why didn’t you pass to me?!” “Yeah man, all night long!”

Type 3: The Super Enthu Man

The man does not stop. He is always enthusiastic about the game and you can hear him cheering and screaming, even when no one else is. This guy’s attitude may be infectious. If teammates pick up on it, the whole atmosphere may work to the team’s momentum. But his enthusiastic spirit may sometimes annoy others.

Common phrases: “Let’s go, team!” “We can do it!” “GO TEAM!!!”

Type 4: The Terminator

He wants to terminate the competition, literally. A teammate may get fouled and this guy will rush to the opponent, eyes blazing and threatening to beat him into a pulp. A referee may make a bad call and he is right there in his face, arguing the decision. He gets easily upset for things that do not involve him directly most of the time. May need anger management classes. Sometimes you may appreciate having such a guy because teams won’t want to mess with you with him around.

Common phrases: “Hasta la vista, baby.” “I KILL YOU!”

Type 5: The Trash Talker

Not exactly the same meaning as the original. This guy’s ‘trash talk‘ is generally meant for his teammates. He may be giving teammates details about what he is going to do, and most of the time, it does not happen. If it does happen, you can bet your league fees that he’s going to be talking about that for the whole week, or even the whole month. When it doesn’t happen, you’ll almost certainly hear some elaborate excuses he has made up for himself.

Common phrases: “I’m going to score 40 tonight.” “I’m so going to block that guy.” “I couldn’t score cos I was thinking about my dog that passed away.”