Demietrius 🅿️

Everybody's arguing about youth sports right now, whether it's too expensive, whether pay-to-play is killing our development. I can't speak on soccer, don't know that world. But I know hoops. Lived it as a player, lived it as a dad, and I run a program too. And here's what I know. The "it's too expensive to develop talent" argument doesn't hold up the way people think, at least not in hoop. Yeah, most parents are getting bled dry on team fees and tournament costs and hotels. No doubt. But the kids who actually make it? The real 1%? They're not paying a dime. A lot of them, in fact, are getting paid, under the table or over it. Many of the great ones get ID'd early and everything flips. The sneaker brands come. The grassroots circuit takes care of them. Wealthy folks who just love hoops want them at their prep school, their AAU team, their college. The bill disappears. So yeah. The 99% are getting killed out here. But the 1%, the ones who actually land as DI starters and NBA players, never see that bill. Maybe that's good, maybe it's bad. I'm just telling you what I've seen.

Free agency is here and, right now, my TL is all LeBron, all day. Where's he going, what are the Warriors doing, etc. That's fine. He's LJ. I get it! But I'll tell you what I'm actually watching, and it isn't LJ and marquee guys. It's the OGs. Don't get me wrong, I love this young NBA. These kids are so skilled it's almost unfair, and athletic in a way that's crazy. Different game now. A better one in a lot of ways, and I mean that. Here's my thing, though. When I came into the league I didn't know anything, not really, and it was the vets who raised me. Guys like Ervin Johnson and Lindsey Hunter and Ray Allen taught me how to carry myself, how to be a pro on the nights nobody's watching. Taught me about money. Shoot, taught me about golf, about how to be a man. I needed that. Most of these young guys need it too, whether they know it yet or not. So yeah. Harrison Barnes going back to San Antonio, that one was obvious. Russell Westbrook getting tied to DC? I love it for AJ Dybantsa and them. And if you've got a young roster you're trying to grow, you have to call a Khris Middleton or a Mike Conley. Get somebody in that locker room who's seen it, lived it, and can pass on that knowledge. They can still give you minutes, sure. But that's not really why you sign them. You bring them in for the kid who's got all the talent in the world and no idea what to do with it yet. The vet pulls him aside when the coaches can't. Shows him the little things nobody teaches you in college. Shows him how to play the game, but also live the life. Each one teach one. That's how it used to worked in the NBA. Let's make sure the young guys get that same guidance.