This article is sponsored by the Texas Legends.
You’ve watched them play. Your kids have marveled at their size and skill. You’ve cheered them on as they conduct athletic feats in defiance of God’s will and think of the day when they become an NBA star so you can brag that you saw them play way back when.
And yet it’s possible they don’t know how to unclog a sink.
It’s easy to forget that some of these players are very young. Some are older, some have spouses, some have kids, some have homes, some have vehicles. But some are almost like teenagers moving into a college dorm their freshman year and leaving the care and guidance of their parents for the first time.
I once asked a player if he lived in Frisco or Plano, and he said he didn’t even know other than he was close to the arena.
“Okay. So you’re probably in Frisco. Apartment or house?”
“Apartment.”
“Which complex? There are quite a few around this area.”
“Not sure. Garden something?”
“I’m not going to pay you a visit if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Seriously, I moved in like two weeks ago. Something Hill? Man, I don’t know.”
“Yeah, I don’t think either of those is correct.”
This is where the Texas Legends as a franchise pitch in to become a surrogate family to help these players out year after year, season after season. This way, the “man, I don’t know” is something these players don’t have to concern themselves with while they focus on and perfect their craft.
Britney Wynn, Vice President of Community and Media Relations for the Texas Legends explains,
We provide meals on game days, we have basketball [operations people] who go out of their way to do things like settle them into their apartments, take them grocery shopping, things of that nature.
The organization has developed a stellar reputation over its decade of existence for taking care of its players. It’s one reason why NBA teams that don’t currently have a G-League affiliate choose to send their players here to Frisco.
As a result, it’s much easier to gain the trust of a young player who might be out of his element, homesick, or maybe just content being on the court as much as possible because that’s a safe space. And when you’re a new person in a foreign area, trusting people to show you around is a big step.
Even for the older players with families, there’s a lot that goes into moving around as much as this line of work requires. Homes to find, schools to register for, communities to connect with, even something as seemingly easy as “where’s a good place to grab a burger around here” kind of thing. The Legends family is a part of the family.
(Disclaimer: Lifestyle Frisco is the best place to go to find out where’s a good place to grab a burger around here. Just sayin’.)
A few years back we had one of the oldest teams in the league and most of our guys were former NBA players,” says Wynn. “This year we’ve got a much younger squad, but they’re very mature.
Considering four of the players this year have moved between the Legends and their NBA affiliates (Dallas Mavericks and Portland Trailblazers), you can see how it might be a little difficult at times to know if you’re living in Garden Something or Something Hill. You might not even need or want to deal with your own transportation. Not to fret. The Legends family’s got your back.
A while back before the 2019-2020 season started, the Hustle and Pro podcast hosted Legends center (and not the sink clogger to my knowledge) Chad Brown. Wynn gave Brown a ride over to the Lifestyle Frisco podcast studio because as she explains it, “If I’m going to be there anyway, there’s no need to have someone else drive them over.”
For privacy reasons, I won’t divulge where the bulk of the players live, and it changes from season to season based on which complexes have the capacity for a roster of jealously large, athletic young men who just want to fulfill their dream of becoming an NBA player.
As for the sink incident (I’ll paraphrase to protect the innocent), a player was very new in town and the first thing he had to do was a promotional photoshoot. With Britney Wynn being basically the only person he knew in town even more so than his teammates to this point, he pulled her aside and said his sink was clogged. Wynn says,
I still laugh about it because he came to me like I was about to pull out my plumber’s tool belt and get to work. Then one of our other players witnessed the interaction and immediately was giving him a hard time like, ‘dude, call the apartments.’ In his defense he’d been here like a week, he probably didn’t even know the name of the complex!”
I’m certain it was Garden Something or Something Hill.
All said, these dudes do some amazing things on the court, and you should go out and support them as they hone their craft and chase their dream. Just know these guys need an assist off the court as well. They need a den mother. They need a foster parent. They need a travel guide. They need an assist.
They could be in Frisco one day, Portland another, Spain the next, just wherever their career takes them. That’s why it’s so crucial for the Legends family to be part of the family. Older or younger, married or single, kids, cars, or clogged sinks, these are still regular humans like the rest of us that need a little normal and a little help.
That makes me want to cheer for them and support them even more.
The Texas Legends help them out by putting them in the best position to succeed. You can help out by making them love being privileged to call Frisco home, however temporary it may be.
These excitingly talented players could use an assist off the court as well. The Legends family is part of the family.
