The basketball landscape has changed for the better and, in some aspects, for the worse. The ascension of NIL has finally given players the right to profit from their name before they make it to the NBA. Nowadays, players are pushed to earn as much money as they can. A practice that was not only frowned upon but also not allowed in the past.
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LeBron James was once investigated for a gifted Hummer he drove in his senior season. If NIL existed during his high school career, he would’ve easily been able to buy a few vehicles himself. That’s the privilege that many young players have today.
What made college basketball so beautiful is that it was a different game from the NBA. Experience played a huge role in a team’s success. The last team loaded with one-and-done talent to win it all was the 2015 Duke Blue Devils, which was a decade ago. However, the rise of NIL has forced head coaches to devise a new recipe.
It has become extremely hard to build a team nowadays. Plenty of players treat the transfer portal as NBA free agency. In the past, the transfer portal was for players looking for better opportunities due to either a lack of playing time or a more favorable situation. Now, the drive has been money.
This has become a growing concern ever since NIL began in 2021. Before then, the list of players who would’ve greatly benefited from NIL is extremely long. Orlando Magic assistant coach God Shammgod cites Vince Carter as a polarizing figure who would’ve undoubtedly capitalized financially on his name.
“Can you imagine if my McDonald’s All-American team had NIL, bro,” Shammgod said on the Tee’d Up Podcast. “Vince Carter would have been an absolute millionaire.”
Shammgod isn’t lying; that 1995 McDonald’s All-American team had overwhelming talent. Alongside Carter and Shammgod were Stephon Marbury, Shareef-Abdur-Rahim, and Antawn Jamison. All those players were phenomenal prospects, but it’s worth noting that Carter was on a different level.
They blossomed in a time when social media didn’t exist. Assuming that group played with NIL being around, along with social media such as Instagram, Shammgod can’t even fully grasp the heights Carter would reach.
“You had IG and all that stuff; it catapults you no matter what. Vince would have been automatically the number one player in the country. Just off the highlights,” Shammgod proclaimed.
It’s an interesting thinkpiece since Carter was throwing down highlight reel dunks game after game in his high school career. That type of playstyle is what drives those who dominate NIL. Prospects such as AJ Dybansta are a perfect example.
Shammgod may believe that NIL would drastically help people earn money, but Shaquille O’Neal has a differing opinion.
O’Neal is not a fan of NIL
It’s not like Shaq doesn’t want to see these young players make the money they deserve. His problem lies with athletes prioritizing money over their craft, which has become alarmingly more common over the last few years.
The rise of NIL has opened the doors to financial wealth to many players who wouldn’t typically be opened until they reached the NBA. O’Neal has one major grievance due to this development.
“NIL I think is definitely gonna hurt people,” Shaq said. “For people that have nothing, when you get something, it takes the pressure off. But that something should be the final prize. The final prize should be the NBA.”
O’Neal believes players become complacent once that NIL paycheck hits their bank account. Players such as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and even O’Neal himself didn’t have that luxury. They possessed an ever-strong hunger to reach the NBA, to then take care of themselves and their families.
Hopefully, a solution for this issue will become apparent. Assuming O’Neal’s claim is correct, if it keeps up, eventually, not many incoming NBA players will have the necessary hunger to be great.
