Playmakers

When you watch professional athletes, you start to notice certain things about how they play their game.

Some athletes run the play and that is as far as they go. In some sports, that is perfect . . . Most of the time.

Sometimes, you need someone to make a play.

We call those people playmakers whether they are in a team sport for an individual sport.

These are athletes who step up and hit the big shot, do their best when there are in the spotlight or when the pressure is on.

The rest of the time, they may be a great complementary player. But when the lights shine the brightest, they deliver.

They are thought of as being clutch.

My favorite example from basketball is Robert Horry, a nice player with a great Los Angeles Lakers team who complemented the stars on the roster.

During one postseason, he averaged nine points, eight rebounds and three assists per game. But he had a three-point shot that tied up a series, preventing the Lakers from going into a 3–1 hole that would’ve been hard to escape.

This wasn’t the only time he did it during his career. He did several other times, too. He made the big shot and the big play.