NBA U?
The NBA getting into the business of education could raise some sticky issues.
There was a story last week in the New York Times in which NBA commissioner David Stern discussed the lack of development of high school basketball players — both socially and athletically — on the amateur level. Stern appears to be distressed by the current system, particularly the summer circuit featuring AAU teams sponsored by shoe companies, involving so-called runners and other potentially unsavory elements.
He also appears to be aghast at finding out that there are some high schools out there that exist pretty much solely to develop high school players and get them ready for the NBA. Stern says that when he read back in February about these schools he “was breathless.”
Stern also says, among other things:
“I think we could do a better job of rounding and grounding those kids so the adjustment to a professional life is a happy one. I’m serious about attempting to improve the overall situation.”
“College coaches can’t talk to kids, but street runners can or shoe representatives can? What has happened here is that the system has a lot of parties, including the N.B.A., all going the wrong way.”
The article goes on to talk about the possibility of an “NBA Academy,” where kids would go to school and work on basketball full-time, similar to the way European basketball teams handle their prospects. The story concludes by saying that the “notion of an academy makes sense to people at all levels of basketball.”
What initially struck me as interesting here is the dichotomy in Stern’s feelings. For instance, he says he was “breathless” upon learning about the basketball factories, but at the same time he wants to essentially create a basketball factory with the NBA’s stamp of approval. This all sounds righteous on the surface, but I’m also sure this is partly finance talking, as the NBA would love to find a way to have their name attached to the best high school basketball players in the U.S.
(And upon further reflection, it’s pretty ridiculous that Stern claims to not have known anything about these schools until February, considering that some of the best guys in the NBA right now went to schools like this just to play ball, get out of high school and into the NBA. The system has been the way it is for a long time, and if Stern really just discovered this stuff a few months ago from reading a newspaper article, the NBA has had their heads buried deeper in the sand than I thought.)
What Stern is hinting about here sounds feasible, although having just one huge basketball academy seems like it would be counterproductive to have hundreds of kids all in one place, which would probably decrease the amount of intensive teaching time available.
Why can’t each NBA team have their own school and work regionally to develop kids? Because teams would not be happy about having to spend money to develop a kid that would make millions elsewhere. Let’s say the Wizards had a traveling program in the Baltimore/DC area that Carmelo Anthony came up through. You think Abe Pollin would like seeing Melo in that Nuggets uniform? And if the permanent rights to a player were assigned based on area they grew up in, that would set off a huge under-the-table scramble to get the best high school kids to relocate to areas where owners were willing to spend the money to make it back later.
Mark Cuban had a pretty brilliant blog post about all this a few weeks ago. Cubes suggested basically signing up kids to play minor league basketball while they’re in high school. Cuban stresses the development aspect of the idea, making sure the kids are supervised and taught about life and such, and even notes that if executed correctly, this idea could put the NCAA out of business.
Of course, the NCAA wouldn’t go out of business because of this (they still make a ton of cash on college football, remember), but it probably would put a dent into college basketball viewership and attendance.
The real question here seems to be who should be responsible for all of this. In Europe the teams run things themselves, and if they make a bad investment, they pay for it down the road. The NBA probably wouldn’t allow that type of system to occur without some seriously minute ground rules, if only because the teams are so financially interconnected as far luxury taxes and TV rights, etc.
The other thing that bothers me here is that it would seriously put a dent into the high school basketball scene, and as someone who went through that system and immensely enjoyed my experience, I’d hate to see kids denied the chance to partake in something that can be larger than themselves.
Anyway, I posted all of this because it’s at least worth discussing.
How would you set all this up?
14 Responses to “NBA U?”
Aug.14 at 6:20 pm
Wayne Washington says:
Stern know what he’s doing. He’s a business man, and the NBA is his business MAN! He wanted minor league basketball. He created the NBDL and now it’s the best minor league in the states. Money in the bank. He created the dress code, now his players are more “approachable” and “business like”. More money in the bank. The shoe companies and AAU coaches make millions in the high school basketball scene and Stern wants a piece of the pie. It’s all about the Benjamin’s baby! I’m out like Maurice Clarett.
Aug.14 at 6:28 pm
Tommy Jackson says:
I don’t think they should overhaul the system. If your car needs an oil change, you don’t replace the muffler and repaint it. You change the oil. The system has not only worked, it has been wildy successful and enjoyable for millions of people for decades. “Times” have not changed, people’s motivations and ethics have. High School and college basketball are great, to a guy like me, they’re fixtures of the country. Now we’re going to try to erase them, “fix them”? For other people’s poor morals? That’s crazy man…
Aug.14 at 6:30 pm
Homie says:
I think Cubes is right on the money. Up here in Canada, we have a similar system with junior hockey, except that I don’t think the junior teams get paid when one of their kids is drafted into the NHL. But, kids can play in major junior as young as 16 or 17, and they can only play a certain number of years (3, I think, maybe 4, or maybe it’s until they reach a certain age). Then, they either get drafted, go to college (and then maybe get drafted after that), or they go to another league or to Europe or something like that. The only reason this works is that there is no high school hockey to speak of. Lang, you’re correct in that a system like this would really mess with HS basketball, but it may be the only way.
Aug.14 at 7:00 pm
Bernie in Phoenix says:
Here’s how I’d do it: 1. Sign kids up who have potential to play in the NBA. Teach them, tutor them, develop them athletically, mentally, and emotionally. Help them work towads their high school diplomas while in this minor league system. 2. Don’t pay the kids or their families any money while they are in the minors, that way they don’t risk losing their amateur status. The minor league team will have a basketball academy where the kids still do schoolwork, but can focus and devote most of their time to developing their basketball skills. 3. Kids can only be signed until they achieve their high school diploma or until they reach 18yrs of age, whichever comes first. At that point the kid then becomes eligible to attend college or turn pro and play for the same minor league team or another minor league team WITH pay. 4. If the kid goes to college, then he can enter the NBA draft when he becomes eligible. If he stays with a minor league team, than it could be setup like how the Euros do it. I don’t think this would mess with HS basketball as much as many think. Right now, the AAU circuit is pretty shady. Guys bounce around from team to team, and I’m sure there are boosters everywhere giving players this and that. Only exceptionally gifted kids would get offers from minor league teams, so we’re not talking about thousands of kids across the country. The kids who don’t get offers to play in the minors, will still go to regular high schools and play ball there. The level of competition may drop slightly because you don’t have the Lebrons or Carmelos, but how many people have actually gone to high school with guys of that caliber? This may hurt the college game, but players would still be able to go to college if they choose or if the minor league team no longer wants them after their initial contract is up. But the college game didn’t suffer too much when the hs cats were jumping to the L. I think people will still watch and attend college games much like they do now.
Aug.14 at 8:16 pm
Derms says:
You think this has something to do with Maurice Clarett? I think it is interesting that is Mo was a bball player he maybe in the NBA instead of prison right now.
Aug.14 at 9:15 pm
Wayne Washington says:
Derms, this has nothing to do with Maurice Clarett! I guess you don’t read SLAM?
Aug.14 at 10:59 pm
Gani says:
if having an “NBA U” would become a win-win situation for all parties involved, why not push through with it? integrate it with mark cuban’s idea and you’d probably have basketball players who are not only ready to play in the nba, but also ready to face the real world.
Aug.15 at 12:40 am
thesubwayconnection says:
It wouldn’t surprise me if Stern was all over getting older retired guys in there to run the thing. Deke, anyone? There’s tons of them out there that would love to get into coaching, I’m sure. It’d just take a matter of teams wanting them in that position. If Stern makes a move on this, that position opens up in a lot of ways. It’d give almost instant credibility, even though the guys running it wouldn’t have the most or the best coaching experience. NBA All-Star looks pretty good on a resume.
Aug.15 at 7:17 am
Paul Johnson says:
I agree with Bernie in Phoenix. I think a school that has a focus on basketball and academics would be great. I also think there is a bigger issue at stake here. Some of these kids think that basketball is their only shot at becoming successful. I think having a God-gifted talent to play ball is great. I also think some of the kids need to learn about life and education, and I’m talking about a solid education where a kid can actually understand things about life, social skills, etc. (Book sense + common sense) I feel as long as money is involved people could care less about the actual person as long as he is making them money. I think that’s why you see so many character issues today with some players in high school and college and on into the NBA. I also agree with not paying the kids money that way they can focus on school and developing the fundamental basketball skills and not just the “crossover”. Then once he finishes the school he is eligible to make money be it overseas, NBA, NBDL, or go to college.
Sure it may hurt competition a little or it could blow up basketball even more. Overseas leagues have been doing it for years. I think we just have to tailor a system that could work here.
Aug.15 at 9:23 am
Martin Catterick says:
We have a system in the UK soccer clubs, many of them have a school/educational facility attached to the clubs with qualified teachers working there. For many of the clubs younger players it is an opportunity to contiue there education or learn new skills while being employed by clubs as a footballer.
Aug.15 at 2:17 pm
DBlizzy says:
I agree totally with Mr Tommy Jackson. I think the whole thing is pretty ridiculous. High school and college are not places where you look to develop your basketball skills. It is a place where you go to educate yourself and to build your social skills. You play sports as recreation and if you are good enough to become a pro then you become a pro and I think it should be left at that. If the high school coaches and college coaches cannot adequately teach fundamentals as well as help build some character in our youth then they should be replaced, not the whole system. I think what really needs to be established is an organization to be a watch dog over the basketball scene. Some sort of committee that will regulate all of the boosters and shoe company sponsoring that goes on because that is what ruining the game. The NBA has been around for years, now all of a sudden we need a basketball academy, an NBAU?? I think the real question here is when did the game of basketball get so out of hand?
Sep.7 at 1:45 am
Young C says:
What they should do is expand the NBADL into a real minor league and either draft or sign the players when they graduate high school and turn 18. Also, the NBA should raise the age limit to 21 and 4 years removed from high school. This would give the players plenty of time to develop and also have them make enough money to make a living and save up in case they want to go back to school.The NBADL should pay the players, but also have included in the contract that the players live on a team “campus/apartment complex” in close vacinity of the team organization as to attend team practices/meeting/etc.It would be similar to college except there would be no academic classes.The only classes would be related to learning basketball.This is similar to European leagues in that they could be instructed as many hours a week they want,as opposed to the NCAA which limits the amount of time players can be coached to like 20 hours a week.The NBADL would have a salary cap just like the NBA except it would be a fraction of what the NBA players make.For instance a rookie NBADL player would make between 50-100,000.That may sound not sound like alot(compared to the millions of dollars the NBADL would generate) but that is more than enough for an 18-21 year old kid to live nicely and not be exploited(like the NCAA).And the players’ education would not be compromised either.It could be included in the contract that a portion of the players contract be put away into an account that the player would later use to go back to school and get a degree to fall back on.In order for this to work the NBADL would have to become its own league and NBA teams would not have an affiliation with any of the minor league teams.This solves the problem of having an organization developing a player, and then having some other organization draft that player when he is eligible for the NBA.If a player is drafted, his contract would be bought out by the team that drafted him(like in the Euroleagues).That way the organizations profit off the ticket sales and also the development of their players. The players that do not get drafted would no longer be eligible to play in the NBADL, but they will have profited off their time and have money to go back to school.
Sep.7 at 1:59 am
Young C says:
CORRECTION: A player who is not drafted would still be eligible to play in the NBADL but only until his contract runs out.Every contract that an NBADL player signs would be a maximum 6 year contract(like the NBA max 6 year contract).If the NBA wants to draft him at 21 they would have to buy out the rest of his contract. The NCAA would still exist but it would not be as expensive for the colleges to be a part of it because of the lost revenue. The good coaches would go to coach the NBADL to continue coaching the best players and also continue to make the enormous money. The players that did not get drafted/signed to the NBADL out of highschool would still get scholarships to play at college, but the players would now be playing in order to possibly get an NBADL contract instead of going to the NBA.
Sep.27 at 12:49 pm
» Is Basketball Broken? - SLAM Online says:
[…] I did a post about this a while ago, after David Stern was quoted in the Times saying he was shocked to hear about how the youth basketball system worked. After I wrote that post I heard from a few NBA people who said that the NBA wasn’t playing dumb, they really just didn’t know about that stuff. So, let’s at least give The David Stern Robot some credit for trying to educate himself and at least talking about trying to fix this stuff. […]