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The NBA prides itself on expanding the game of basketball to other countries. It’s about time the league decides to focus more attention on developing the game within the United States by creating a deeper farm system.
The NBA Developmental League is supposed to be equivalent to a “farm system.” At this point, that comparison is a joke. There are 30 NBA teams and only 18 D-League teams. The Fort Wayne Mad Ants aren’t even affiliated with an NBA team, leaving 13 NBA teams without a farm team affiliate. This seems a little backwards for a league that is always calling for better player development.
Every once in a while, an NBA star will come out talking about how European kids are more fundamental than American kids. Maybe that’s because European kids actually have options professionally. A 13-year-old from Europe will spend more time on fundamentals because he knows there is a realistic chance that doing so could help him play in one of the 50 European basketball leagues by age 17. If he’s not good enough to play pro yet, he can go to an American college and work on his game, because U.S. schools are enamored with foreign players. If he is better than his competition, then he can get paid at least $5 million a year to play in the NBA.
Now look at it from the perspective of an American kid. All an American 13-year-old sees on TV are guys like LeBron James and Steph Curry. He doesn’t focus on their fundamentals because their dunks and threes get all the hype. He also doesn’t see the D-League teams. So kids think flash is the only way to play professionally in America. Every kid wants to make a mixtape. They’re not worried about fundamentals. That’s why the AAU game is so tainted with isolation players taking 20 seconds off the clock just to shoot a contested pull-up. At a young age, it’s hard for parents to explain to their kids that there is less than a one percent chance they play in the NBA. It’s also hard to convince a kid that they can make a living playing overseas in a different culture. Every kid wants to say “ball is life,” but it takes a special kind of player to make that a reality in the United States. With the $25,500 that D-League players make, the NBA is almost encouraging American players to go overseas to develop their game.
If the NBA decided to expand the D-League so every team had two farm teams, like a Triple-A and a Double-A team in the MLB, then kids might feel more inclined to develop their game on a fundamental level. It would also help if the D-League pay was raised to around $50,000. By 2017-18, the salary cap will be over $100 million, so it’s not like the NBA will be short on money.
If the league wants players to come in more NBA-ready, then they need to make a system that allows them to develop players instead of letting them head overseas. It starts with a farm system. Let young basketball players know that ball can be life in America, even if it’s not the NBA.
Reed Hunnicutt is an ACC Basketball Beat Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @rd_hunnicutt04, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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