'It's Gonna Be a Long Season': When Your Practice Rival Is an NBA Superstar

Sam Dekker, the unproven rookie, found himself toe-to-toe with veteran Houston Rockets teammate James Harden with the game on the line.

It's a dream scenario for every kid with NBA aspirations, and Dekker wanted to make his mark with a stop against one of the league's best scorers during a 2015 minicamp in Los Angeles.

"He does this move where he goes left and he grabs my arm and holds it to his body and is dribbling and pulling me around, and I'm trying to say, 'foul, foul, foul,' but he's laughing," Dekker said. "Throws me off, goes up for a layup and says, 'Game over.' And I'm a rookie—I can't say anything. He winked at me and started laughing. That's when I was like, all right, welcome to the league."

This experience mirrors that of many players across the league who, like Dekker, have the unforgiving but unforgettable job of guarding their team's star in practice.

For every Harden, there's a Dekker or K.J. McDaniels who is trying his best to limit or stifle someone in a nearly impossible matchup. Despite its challenges, it's a mutually beneficial relationship. Role players improve their defense by taking on the league's best, while All-Stars face physical, borderline chippy defense they see in games. These sacrificial lambs don't ask for credit or praise, and they're rarely dispirited.

And, like Dekker, they have stories to tell.

Cameron Payne, a reserve point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, came away with a steal during his rookie training camp. But then Russell Westbrook swatted his seemingly open layup off the backboard and threw an alley-oop to Steven Adams on the other end.

"God damn, man, it's going to be a long year for me," Payne told himself.

Ian Clark and Shaun Livingston of the Golden State Warriors just chuckle when asked about guarding Stephen Curry, who torches them like any other defenders.

During the 2013-14 season, the Miami Heat signed DeAndre Liggins, a defensive specialist, to a couple of 10-day contracts. He got the chance to face off with LeBron James in practice. James once hit a tough shot over his now reunited teammate in Cleveland and said, "I do this on everybody; don't worry about it."

Getting lit up by some of basketball's finest has its benefits. Those players who do battle daily in practice are glad they do, because guarding someone like Kevin Durant multiple times per week builds confidence. It also helps players pick up on some offensive tricks and observe superstar habits up close. The one quality that sticks out among the league's best is work ethic.

"When it's your best player with that mindset, he's going to raise the level of everyone else around him," Dekker said.

The number of practices varies by team—Tom Thibodeau's Minnesota Timberwolves get lots of reps between games, whereas Mike Budenholzer's Atlanta Hawks focus more on rest. Five-on-five scrimmages dwindle as the season goes on but play a heavy role in training camps and early-season practices. That's when players like Payne can test themselves against the best.

"[Westbrook] taught me a lot of stuff, and I learned from him," Payne said. "I'm blessed to be in a position I am, get to go up against him every day. It's making me a better player."

The job of guarding stars in practice isn't completely self-serving. Role players understand their primary goal is to prepare the team's best players for what they'll eventually be facing in games.

The Chicago Bulls' Doug McDermott said their coaching staff often pushes the reserves to play physically and jump into passing lanes to keep Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade on their toes.

But sometimes, the stars are out to prove a point.

"[Carmelo Anthony] came in one day and was like, 'Hey, my legs feel good. Somebody's getting the blues today,'" New York Knicks forward Lance Thomas said. "I'm like, 'Yeah, whatever.' I didn't practice that day, I was out, some foot issue. He didn't miss. Every possession down he scored. He probably scored like 10 straight."

The less successful practice moments can be just as telling. Thomas said he watches Anthony easily pull off moves during games after a bad practice.

In Houston, McDaniels and Harden were going at it so intensely that they clawed, shoved and pulled each other while chasing after a loose ball long after it went out of bounds.

That is doing the job well, something the Cavaliers' Iman Shumpert takes pride in against LeBron.

"It's one of those things that as it goes on, it can at times frustrate him because we go at each other so much," Shumpert said. "He understands it's doing nothing but making him better, making him pull more moves out. … We all key in on him. We let him see just about everything in practice, so when he gets to the game, should be smooth."

When Harden scores 40 points, nobody credits Dekker for constantly pressuring him in practice. But few in this fraternity are concerned with receiving due praise.

"I don't think any of us really care about who gets the credit. We're just trying to get wins," Dekker said. "As cliche as that sounds, we got a goal in mind, so that's what we're working for."

Spending years working toward that goal leads to familiarity. Guard a superstar enough and you can at least annoy him at times, even if you can't slow him down. Dekker said Harden gets mad because he hand-checks often, despite continually getting whistled for it during practices.

Most players prefer not to share what they've learned about All-Stars' go-to moves, but Cole Aldrich, who backs up Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota, gave a mini-scouting report.

"I kind of know what he's going to do in certain areas," Aldrich said. "Likes going middle on the left block, will pick and pop for the three, which makes it tough for a bigger guy like myself closing out to him, and then he can drive by you. Kind of does it all."

Practices are looser than games, which means non-basketball tendencies come out as well.

Jordan McRae of the Cavaliers struggled to decide whether LeBron sings at the top of his lungs (McRae preferred to call it yelling) at every practice or every other one. Those who get to defend the Dallas Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki say his trash-talking is not safe for public consumption, a quality that budding New York Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis might one day possess after telling teammate Kyle O'Quinn, "You see what I worked on this summer—you can't stop it."

How stars are officiated in practice is also an issue: McDermott was quick to complain about Butler's egregious flopping. Justin Hamilton of the Brooklyn Nets hates when Brook Lopez doesn't get his calls because he takes it out on Hamilton, not the referees.

"It's pretty funny to watch when he doesn't get a couple calls, his reactions," Hamilton said. "Just gets like a fire in his eye and just goes at it. ... You hope that they make the call."

It may sound like a slog, or even a chore, to keep stride with the best players in the world, but it's a rewarding experience. It's difficult to get demoralized or bogged down when you're doing what you love.

"It's fun," Dekker said. "This is our job. We get to play hoops, and we do it against the best players. There's nothing better than that."

All quotes obtained firsthand.

David Vertsberger is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn, New York. You can find his writing in Vice Sports and Excelle Sports, and find him on Twitter at @_Verts.