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In Praise of Nate Robinson, the NBA Playoffs' Surprising Scene-Stealer

It's always fun to pull for the "little guy" in sports, and in cheap jerseys basketball, this is something of a literal truth.

In a sport that prizes vertical motion and therefore naturally rewards seven-foot behemoths whose height puts them in close proximity to the rim, it's often easier to root for shorter players, whose smaller statures wholesale jerseys act as a disadvantage every time they take the court. The (relatively) diminutive point guard Nate Robinson blocking Yao Ming's shot in 2006 is one of the closest visual representations of David vs. Goliath that sports can provide. And who in their right mind pulls for Goliath?

It's worth taking a moment to appreciate smaller NBA players and the role sports jerseys they play in basketball culture because—with all due respect to Steph Curry—Robinson, now a guard for the Chicago Bulls, was the breakout star of the 2013 NBA Playoffs' first round, which concluded over the weekend. Robinson wasn't the best player during the playoffs' first two weeks, but he was the most entertaining, consistently filling up highlight reels with ridiculously athletic moves.