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Cavs' Thomas Bryant hardly plays, but he keeps overlapping with winning teams originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Thomas Bryant keeps putting himself in the picture.
The Cleveland Cavaliers' third-string center, on a team that only has two in its regular rotation, isn't playing a lot of minutes right now. He hasn't played much in the past few seasons, either. But he keeps finding himself in the middle of winning.
This isn't to say Bryant is the reason his teams win in the postseason -- but it's more than a coincidence.
If you've watched the Cavs this postseason, you've surely spotted Bryant. He's the first guy on the bench to leap and hype his teammates up when they make a big play. When players leave the court during timeouts, Bryant is the first out there to encourage them.
There's no way to tell whether it bothers Bryant that he himself isn't playing more. He has fully embraced the chance to support his teammates in any way he can.
And along the way, it's led to quite the stretch of success. He was on the Denver Nuggets' championship roster in 2023. He made it to the NBA Finals with the Indiana Pacers last year. And now he's on a Cavs team heading to the Eastern Conference Final.
That's not to say Bryant has had no part on the court in what's transpired. Just last season, the Pacers advanced past the Knicks to go to the Finals in part thanks to 12 of the best minutes Bryant has ever played at the NBA level.
His story now, though, is in many ways a microcosm of the life of an NBA bench player.
Most of these guys were once the best players their peers had ever known. Bryant was the eighth-grade phenom on a powerhouse Bishop Kearney (N.Y.) team that was called up from JV for sectionals, stole the show and never looked back.
He was a top-tier recruit out of Huntington Prep (W.V.) and spent two years for the blue-blood Indiana Hoosiers.
Bryant has been a solid NBA scorer at times throughout his career, too. But eventually, the game catches up.
His story now isn't about putting up double-doubles, but the work doesn't stop. He takes the court about 90 minutes before every game to put in his full workout with Cavs coaches. If his name is called, he'll be ready.
But these days, Bryant's name isn't called much. That hasn't stopped him from making a big impact for one of the best teams in basketball, again.
MORE: Revisiting Thomas Bryant's heroics against the Knicks last season
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