Often the most popular basketball players in sports are the best the sport has to offer. Magic Johnson was popular in the ’80s and he was one of the best players in the sport.  Kids all over the world wanted to “Be Like Mike” as Michael Jordan was one of the top basketball players of all-time, changing the way the game was played.  However, other times, players are able to rise to popularity without being all-stars.

It was on this day, March 5th, 2008, that the city of Los Angeles declared “Derek Fisher Day.”  March 5th, 2008 was declared this day in honor of the tremendous work that Derek Fisher did in his community.

Derek Fisher’s popularity reached an all-time high when he missed the first game of the NBA conference finals to be with his daughter who was suffering from a serious illness. He arrived for game 2 and during the 4th quarter, he entered the game and hit a crucial 3 point shot. Fisher time and time again put others before himself both on and off the court.