The definition of a "role player"

When you hear the term "role player" who do you think of?  Steve Kerr? Robert Horry? Horace Grant? Everyone has a different definition of what it truly means to be a role player.  In my opinion it is someone who is not good enough to carry a team every night, but is still essential to the teams success. The common misconception is that being a role player is a bad thing, when in reality they are just as important as superstars.

What makes the Celtics so good is that their team is filled with role players, and very good ones at that. Pierce and Rondo are pretty much the only players that can carry a team night in and night out anymore. However, the rest of the guys accept their roles and play them well. 

Let's look at the ultimate role player, Kendrick Perkins. This guy doesn't care about stats just about playing defense and rebounding.  Without him the Celtics don't win the title two years ago. Every team needs a guy like that to win.  Or what about Eddie House? He is the Celtics own version of  Steve Kerr and his streaky shooting is absolutely essential.  A couple years ago we had James Posey who was the ultimate role player, playing lock down D and hitting corner 3's. Was he as important as KG or Pierce? Probably not. But in his own way maybe he was.

Career role players have become scarce over the years.  More and more players are looking for the big contract to the detriment of the team.  That is what makes guys like Perk so special. I will always believe that if you have more than three superstars on your team you won't win a title because there is only one ball. Give me Posey, Perk, or Powe any day of the week.

The reason I think the Celtics can still win a title this year is beceause at the end of the day I think they have the best collection of role players in the league.   The key is whether they can all be healthy and click at the same time. In any case, just because guys like KG and Ray are not superstars anymore does not mean they are not important players on the team.  It just means they have taken on a new role. What do you all think it means to be a "role player?"