The Guys Waving Towels On The End of The Bench On Championship Teams

This is former NBA center, Scott Williams. In this photograph, he is obviously playing in a game of basketball. Which I find a little strange, because I only remember Scott Williams as the guy at the end of the bench, waving his towel around like an idiot whenever Michael Jordan did something awesome. Which thankfully, in the years that Williams played for the Bulls, was pretty much all the time.

Let's take a look at some of Williams' numbers when he played for the Bulls. His best season was in 1992-93 where he averaged 6 points and 6 rebounds and averaged about 10 minutes a game. That was far an away his best season with Chicago. Not exactly stellar numbers there, Scott.

But do you know what Scott Williams has that most NBA players don't have? Three NBA championship rings. That's right, three.

You know why? Because Scott Williams mastered the sublime art of being a cheerleader. He had a good sense of humor, was well liked by his teammates, and could wave one hell of a towel. In the movie "UntouchaBulls" the story of the NBA finals in 91-92 against Portland, the whole thing is basically Jordan and Pippen doing really, really unbelievaBULL (ha!) things on the court, and then a shot of Scott Williams' on the bench waving his towel. And he wasn't the only one. Here is a photograph of that same Bulls team:


The men in the back row formed the on-court nucleus of the best team in the early nineties. The men in the front formed the greatest collection of towel wavers the NBA has ever seen.

You know what the best part is? Every single player in the front row still has a career in basketball. Bobby Hansen, who did actually play from time-to-time, is the color commenter for the University of Iowa's basketball team. Stacey King is the color man for Bulls telecasts, Will Purdue works for ESPN radio as an analyst, Cliff Levingston coaches a CBA team, Scott Williams does color for Milwaukee Bucks games, and Craig Hodges is an assistant coach for the Lakers.

There you have it. Not a bad resume for a collection of scrubs.

So the next time you're watching a playoff basketball game, I want you to watch extra closely. Don't pay attention to the star players on the court. No, no. The real war is taking place on the pine. The team with the best towel wavers always comes out on top. Just ask my boy Scott Williams.

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