"From substitute to super giants", only 5 people have truly done it, and the top spot has dominated an era!

In the NBA, the world's highest-level basketball court, those players who are surrounded by halos when they first enter the league can always quickly attract the spotlight. For example, the prides of heaven like Jordan, James, and O'Neal have started their own legendary chapter since their debut.

But the charm of basketball is far more than that. It also witnessed many low-key players who started from the bench and step by step to the peak of super giants with their tenacious perseverance and endless desire for victory. Next, let’s talk about those players who “something from substitute to super giants”. In the 2009 draft, Harden was selected by the Thunder as the Tanhua Show. He has extremely high talent, but because of the super combination Durant and Westbrook, he had to play the role of the sixth man in the first three years of his career. In his three-year Thunder career, Harden only started seven times. However, after transferring to the Rockets, Harden's career has undergone earth-shaking changes. Under the training of D'Antoni, Harden grew into a top scorer and organization master, and won honors such as MVP, scoring king, assist king, and became the league's recognized number one point guard after Kobe. As the first active NBA player, Jokic has held three regular season MVP trophys and led the Nuggets to win the first championship in team history in 2022 and was elected as the MVP in the Finals. However, Jokic's career started not as glorious as it is now. He was only selected by the Nuggets at the 11th pick in the second round of the 2016 draft. Because of his mediocre athletic ability, he often played the role of a substitute center in his rookie season. However, gold will always shine. The coaching staff and management soon discovered Jokic's talent and straightened him in the second season. After that, they even sent off Nurkic, who was in the same position, and determined Jokic's core position.

Nash

As a white player, Nash's physical fitness is not outstanding in the NBA league. His running and jumping ability and explosive power can only be considered to be at the mid- and downstream level. This made him not receive the attention of his coach in the first three years of his career, and he could only serve as Kidd's substitute and wait for opportunities on the bench. However, after transferring to the Suns, Nash's historically top organizational ability and overall view were demonstrated, and he even entered the "180 Club" all year round. During that period, Nash was elected as the regular season MVP for two consecutive years and led the Suns to play an extremely gorgeous running basketball.

Antesco

Antesco is undoubtedly one of the best players in the league today, and his achievements are no less than those of James and Durant in the same period. However, in his rookie season, he also started off as a substitute. Antetokounmpo was thin at that time and his shooting ability was not ideal, which made him only serve as a substitute in the team. Fortunately, Kidd had a keen eye and discovered Antetokounmpo's potential. Since the second season, Antetokounmpo has been the starting lineup and has become one of the core teams. With his outstanding physical fitness and amazing learning ability, Antetokounmpo quickly made his mark in the league. Not only did he win many honors such as championship, FMVP, MVP and DPOY, he also became one of the league's facades.

Kobe

Kobe is one of the representatives of the 96 Golden Generation, but he did not enjoy the same treatment as Iverson and Marbury in the early years of his career. Due to his paranoid playing style, he was even hidden by the coach and became the team's water dispenser administrator. However, Kobe has tenacity and persistence that ordinary people cannot reach. He trains hard to continuously improve his strength and eventually gets rewarded. He teamed up with O'Neal to lead the Lakers to win three consecutive championships and establish the Lakers dynasty. After O'Neal left, Kobe led the team to achieve two consecutive championships in the 2008-2010 season, becoming one of the spokespersons of this era. Kobe's story is not only a player's growth process, but also a spiritual symbol, inspiring countless basketball enthusiasts to pursue their dreams.