A Jimmy Kimmel/Usher song dedicated to the least heralded players in the National Basketball Association is gaining traction on YouTube. As of Saturday evening, “Benchwarmers” had more than 78,000 page views on the video sharing website.
The slow jam debuted on Thursday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live: Game Night special, following Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat. The video is something of a parody of music videos, with Kimmel and Usher both wearing sunglases while “recording” the song in the studio.
Kimmel and Usher alternate lyrics in the tune, which starts out with the lines, “All the great basketball players have one thing in common/see, they can never be the best without the guys at the bottom.”
The video continues to point out the habits of the benchwarmers, including putting their heads between the knees in tough times, waving towels to rally the crowd, drinking Gatorade even though they haven’t seen any playing time, and high-fiving celebrities.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton and Chicago Bulls forward Brian Scalabrine are among the players that are called out as benchwarmers.
The song ends with Usher telling the players, “To all of my benchwarmers out there, me and Jim thank you so much for your support, for all the motivation you give to the real players, all of your unique handshakes and chest bumps, we thank you.”
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