Basketball is not just a child’s game. It has become a legitimate career path, but it requires an extensive amount of work to reach NBA level. As a result, kids are starting to train at a very young age. LeBron James already voiced his negative opinion regarding this trend. Draymond Green echoes the Los Angeles Lakers star’s sentiment.
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In a recent episode of Mind the Game, LeBron engaged in a passionate rant against the pressure put on children to be great at a young age. During his adolescence, basketball was one of many outlets, but that’s no longer the case.
“When we were growing up, our parents didn’t know if this kid had a trainer,” James said. “[Now parents think] if my kid is not being trained five days a week, he’s not going to make it.”
Green resonated with LeBron’s comments on a personal level. “Growing up, I didn’t learn how to do a proper individual workout till I got to college,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis.
The beauty of basketball is that it is accessible to anyone and everyone. It doesn’t require heaps of equipment like football and hockey. “Basketball used to be a poor man’s game,” Green said. Unfortunately, times have changed.
“Basketball is not a poor kid’s game no more. Basketball is a rich kid’s game,” Green proclaimed.
Green’s comments are profound, considering the implications this has on the future of the sport. Beloved stories such as LeBron James’ ascension to superstardom may no longer be possible if players who are in similar life situations need a trainer to make their dreams a reality.
One of the most concerning aspects of this change is that young players don’t develop a sense of creativity on the court, according to Green. “There’s no imagination, everybody’s doing the same thing.”
Iconic moves like Allen Iverson’s crossover, Hakeem Olajuwon’s “Dream Shake” and even Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s skyhook didn’t come from a trainer. These moves were created and perfected from trial and error on the court.
The over-reliance on training may have done irreparable damage to the state of modern-day basketball. Hopefully, LeBron and Draymond’s comments spark lasting changes that will remove the immense pressure at the forefront of youth basketball.
