Ghost – The Greatest 6th Man Ever
Who is the Greatest 6th Man of All-Time?
Growing up it was Kevin McHale. He was an All-Star who came off the bench to help lead the Boston Celtics to numerous NBA Championships. I remember hearing announcers giving him praise for his willingness to sacrifice a starting position to give his team a better chance to win. He was a huge presence off the bench.
What a powerful weapon to have as a coach! To bring arguably one of your best players off the bench. When the opposing team’s starters are getting tired or when you can put him up against a weaker second unit, just imagine the advantage you have.
Ginobli is one of my favorite 6th men and boy do I love lefties. The Argentinian version of the Mamba is the epitome of a 6th man! Fearless, selfless, and I could go on about why and how he put fear into his opponents.
Another one of my favorite 6th Men just retired this year. Andre Iguodala was an All-Star in Philadelphia when he was traded to Golden State. He willingly accepted a 6th man role and as a result became, like McHale and Ginobli, an NBA Champion. I found it interesting to watch as he was selected the MVP of their first Championship. I remember recording his interview afterwards as he thanked his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I found it interesting that Golden State struggled to win another championship when they traded Iggy. They actually didn’t win again until they traded to get him back.
The Greatest 6th Man of All-Time is neither of these three men. The Greatest 6th Man of All-Time has numerous nicknames, my favorite of which is “The Enforcer” or since it is Halloween maybe we should refer to his nickname “Ghost”.
Anybody know who I am referring to yet? Imagine playing 6 on 5 the entire game, or what about 10 on 5. Let’s look at this another way. Imagine bringing Shaq in his prime off the bench. Now imagine someone much more powerful than Shaq. Probably the best analogy I can give you is the original movie, Space Jam, when Michael Jordan and the looney tunes gang take down a bunch of demons. What else do you call it when evil takes over the bodies of someone?
Jesus came as a man. He lived for 30 years as a man, but one day while walking along the Jordan River. Just for sake of picturing what happened let’s call God “Coach”. The Greatest Coach of All-Time (GOD) sees the perfect opportunity to introduce His 6th Man to the world. As Jesus was baptized by his cousin John the Baptist, God sent “The Enforcer” into the Game. By the way, He is also known as the “Holy Ghost”. The Bible says Jesus was filled without measure with the “HOLY SPIRIT”. The Greatest 6th Man of All-Time!
At that point the enemy didn’t have a shot. Jesus became God Man. The Holy Spirit began leading Jesus, guiding Jesus, and empowering Jesus to do the will of the Father. As Jesus began to perform miracle after miracle, his hometown, friends, and even some of his own family could not believe what was happening.
His mother Mary knew, she remembered what the angel had told her and on one day at a wedding, Mary called her son into his destiny. This happens in John chapter 2.
Let’s put this into a game analogy.
Coach Mary had taken her team to Cana to play a big game. The team was led by her son Jesus and to this point in the season it appeared she had just an average team based on the fact that nothing miraculously had happened to this point in the season. Late in the game at Cana adversity hit. It appeared to Coach Mary that a win was virtually impossible.
What do good Coaches do in times of adversity? They turn to their best players and Coach Mary was no different. It was at that moment that Coach Mary calls timeout and gathers her team of Jesus and his disciples into a huddle. Coach Mary turns to Jesus and boldly suggest that it is time to put the 6th Man into the game. Jesus looks at her and says, “Coach, it is not time yet.” Coach Mary disagreed. She turns to the rest of the team. “Whatever Jesus says to you, just do it!”.
It was at that time in history that the Greatest 6thMan in History showed up again. Jesus never lost a game with Him. With the help of the Holy Spirit, Jesus went on win the Greatest Championship ever on the Cross.
Jesus told his teammates and future fans that he had to retire early. They told him, no, but he explained to them that they would be able to do even greater things than him. How? Jesus said, I must go so I can send the 6th man back to each of you. If I do so, then we will all be a part of Team Jesus.
Because of Jesus, that same 6th Man is available for each and every one of us today and THE HOLY GHOST is the only Ghost worth mentioning on Halloween.