0.0344%– this is an American high school basketball player, the probability of entering NBA in the future. It’s all rolled like this. Why are there still many teenagers “giving away heads” every year 」? We might as well think backward and find the answer from the players who have already succeeded in NBA.
Today, we will extend the long shot to the other end of the Pacific Ocean to see how American children shooting at home can play in this real-life version of “basketball development game, step by step, it has grown into an NBA star with much attention.
Text/Li Jiayun
On December 30, 1984, a single mother from Akron, Gloria James, gave birth to a healthy child and named him “LeBlanc”-meaning King.
Because of his father’s absence, the family’s life was not easy. In LeBlanc’s childhood memory, they had been moving, while her mother Gloria had not been able to find a stable job.
At the age of 9, there was a turning point in his life. LeBlanc met Frank Walker, a local high school football coach. Walker liked little LeBlanc very much. In order to enable her son to live a stable life, Gloria entrusted LeBlanc to Walker’s family. Later, it was Walker who took James to play basketball, signed him up for AAU, played high school team, and finally entered NBA, becoming the current “King James 」.
Not only James, but also many retired, active and future NBA players have similar experiences. The unsatisfactory living conditions make these one in ten thousand children have to work hard, training in the gym day and night, impacting NBA-because they know that once they do it, they will face millions of salaries and respect from others’ hearts, it is another completely different “New World 」.
Young stage: due to interest, basketball begins to find out
First of all, you should first like basketball-American children have been exposed to all kinds of sports since childhood, but playing football requires a field area and a certain number of people. In this way, basketball can be played with a box, and the “project start-up cost” is the lowest.
Therefore, basketball is also one of the sports with the highest participation of American citizens. No matter the size of the House, American families always like to put a basketball hoop in their yard, while many American children throw their first ball in their lives in their backyard or driveway.
“Lane basketball” is also a very important part of American basketball culture. If you drive a block, in addition to the roar of lawn mower, what I hear most often is the sound of basketball being shot again and again on the concrete ground at each door.
In America, which attaches so much importance to sports, children don’t even play games?
Compared with improving football skills, the American basketball system pays more attention to cultivating children’s interests. Bleacher Report reporter JC de Lyon once mentioned: “95% of the high competitive level comes from love 」. Before being exposed to repeated, boring, high-intensity training and competitive competitions, let the children experience the joy of putting the ball into rim. I have to say that the United States has done a good job on this point.
So, how do Americans specifically make children like basketball?
On the basis of the inherent rules of basketball, they invented many games suitable for children, such as “HORSE”, which is also popular in China now: players participating in the games play in the order arranged in advance, the first player can choose to shoot at any position on the field. Yogueta shoot at this position, then other players must finish shooting at the same position in the same way, if they fail to shoot, they will get a letter “H”, and the person who first collects the five letters of “HORSE” will be eliminated.
Compared with the daily basketball rules, basketball games similar to “HORSE” reduce competition and become more interesting and easier to be accepted by children.
Of course, there are also competitions. Some churches and elementary schools carry out basketball games for children, and if your skills are far beyond the same age, you can also participate in various training camps/off-campus competitions, among them, what has to be mentioned is the AAU (Amateur Sports Federation), which shines all the year round by the future star.
As the most representative youth league outside school in the United States, AAU will be divided into 12 League levels according to age/grade. All players can sign up according to the specified age, while Owen, the vast majority of local NBA players such as Tatum had participated in the AAU league as teenagers.
Although the AAU competition above high school represents the highest level of American youth basketball, the competition in primary school is not so serious, which mainly makes children feel the feeling of winning the competition and cultivate their interest in basketball.
In love with basketball, NBA is certainly a big reason.
For most domestic NBA fans, it is a luxury to watch an NBA game on the spot. However, in the United States, it is a normal entertainment activity for parents to take their children to watch the football match at home, especially when you live in a city with NBA teams and drive for half an hour, spend one hundred dollars to buy three tickets and a popcorn, and the low cost can make children feel the charm of professional sports early.
For ordinary Americans, it is already one of the instincts of life to spend money on sports and watch games.
This is a story around the author: Jim is a Spanish teacher living in Boston and has a 17-year-old son David. As a 40-year senior basketball fan James, Jim has regarded the Celtics as a belief. Since 2003, he has bought season tickets for Celtics every season for 20 years.
Since 2014, it has become two season tickets for a season, because under his influence, his son has also become a small fan. Father and son spend more than 40 nights in TD Garden ball every year.
More importantly, as a high school teacher, Jim spends 10% of his annual income on this hobby, and according to James, the money he spent supporting the team would have been able to buy sports cars long ago.
Junior high school, playing ball is no longer just for playing
Generally, when we mention the domestic school team, we think of those professional athletes selected from hundreds of people in a school, while most of the rest have no chance to enter the school team.
However, in the United States of “per capita athletes”, the situation is different.
According to statistics, 55.1 percent of junior and middle school students in the United States have participated in at least one school team sport, and basketball is one of the most popular sports.
The American high school Basketball season usually starts in winter. In the first two weeks of the season, a leaflet will be posted on the wall of the school gymnasium, which reads “Basketball Tryout” (Basketball trial training). At the appointed date, all students who like basketball in the school will gather here, accept the test of coaches and assistant coaches, and select 10 to 12 people to enter the team.
However, if your ability is indeed different from that of others, but your love for basketball is still hot, don’t worry, you can choose to join the team as a “team manager,” Team manager “can participate in all team activities except the first match-training, warm-up match, and even follow the team to go away. While participating in school basketball activities, we will improve ourselves and become stronger silently to prepare for next year’s trial training.
Compared with other sports, the superiority of American middle school basketball lies in its extremely high popularity. Some middle schools may not set up football teams or football teams due to a series of factors such as scale and facilities, but almost every school has its own basketball school team.
The “dark side” of basketball, such as the tense mentality of the game, dazzling tactics, and the training of dehydration, began to make the little players overwhelmed, but the coaching team will take you to adapt to these step by step, tell you how to balance your mind and become a qualified basketball player.
Even Stephen Curry, an epoch-making NBA superstar, developed the mentality that basketball matches should have in middle schools.
Influenced by his NBA father, Curry had much more football skills than his peers since childhood. After he was promoted to junior high school, he also let the team coach see the basketball talent of “NBA star second generation. “A 12-year-old child made an action that I have never seen before playing basketball all my life. 」 Curry’s junior coach James ledge said in an interview with Bleacher Report.
Despite his extraordinary talent, little Stephen at that time did not seem to have such a strong competitive heart. “He is too quiet and gentle. It seems that it doesn’t matter if he loses the game. Nothing in this world can make him excited. 」 All this changed during the season ending war in Curry’s eighth grade.
Two minutes before the end of the game, the team was six points behind. In the pause, coach ledge was comforting the team and teaching them to face defeat in the right way, because he knew that in the middle school, it is really difficult to score 6 points in one minute. But before playing, he dragged 13-year-old Curry aside and bowed his head and said, “after playing a wonderful basketball season, do you really want to end with a defeat? 」
Then, in the last minute, Curry equalized the game with two three points in succession and won the team with seven points in overtime-“baby face assassin” was born.
High school: We, rolled up!
If junior high school is to make fans adapt to the serious and competitive side of basketball, then when we arrive in senior high school, we will use a word “volume” to describe the cruelty and pressure of American middle school basketball.
Generally speaking, the high school team will be divided into Varsity (first team) and Junior Varsity (second team). As the level of competition on the basketball court is getting higher and higher, the competition between teams is becoming more and more serious. Players can get in touch with many things only in professional leagues in advance.
The first is the pre-match report. Before each match, the coaching staff will incarnate the “FBI” and analyze the teams to be played from top to bottom. Who are the players in charge, their technical characteristics, the style of the whole team, so as to better formulate targeted tactics.
Secondly, high school coaches also attach great importance to the cultivation of sports spirit, which is also what many schools emphasize every day. Team spirit, respect for opponents and obey the referee. Coaches will pass on these concepts as professional players to you in time before you get in touch with higher level basketball.
Even the well-known concept of transfer will happen in high school.
High school basketball schools in the United States will have their own Scouts. For example, Chinese junior general Yu Jiahao and James’s son have full-time scouts in schools such as Sierra Canyon, Durant and Anthony’s alma mater Oak Hill brownie.
In order to maintain the competitiveness of the team and the label of “strong basketball”, they will always pay attention to the excellent middle school basketball players in the United States and even around the world, and are ready to “dig the wall” at any time 」. Therefore, many excellent high school basketball players will experience the feeling of being “traded” before entering the profession.
So, why is American high school basketball so rolled?
First of all, it is because of its considerable attention-the whole school, the whole state and even the whole country are watching you!
It is no exaggeration to say that American high school fans have exceeded professional sports fans in terms of investment. Because they often watch the ball with deeper fetters, the players’ classmates, parents, teachers and friends will give the team the greatest support. Even the smallest school, the stadium’s home stands, will never lack fans.
It is said that NCAA is the last pure land of basketball. In fact, high school basketball is the purest basketball with no interest involved, so it will also attract many TV viewers. In addition to the attention received by each high school in the local area, the competitions of some famous schools will be broadcast nationwide, and in the final, they will go to local universities, even NBA stadiums. For example, brownie James’s alma mater Sierra Canyon High School fought against SVSM High School in December last year at the Lakers’ home Staples Center (now the Crypto. com Stadium).
How great is high school basketball in the United States? There is a media specializing in high school basketball, which is getting bigger and bigger, and even gets the investment of Amazon founder Bezos.
In Instagram, sports media with 6.51 million fans Overtime began to focus on reporting high school and junior basketball as early as 2016. Their appearance made many players focus on flash lamps from high school. From Cai en Williamson and Jay Green in those years to Vmax Williams, a high school student who is popular now, they are all the products of Overtime “star-making plan.
Another part of the reason is its all-round and multi-angle competitive attribute. Players compete on the court, schools compete with each other, and even some coaches compete secretly.
Because it is different from the domestic system, the excellence of an American high school is not only reflected in the academic field, but also the excellent sports is a very important standard. When recruiting freshmen, a top basketball program is a point that many parents and classmates attach great importance. When the teams in the same region are all defeated by you all the year round, it is the best embodiment of the school sports level.
And as mentioned earlier, many schools play in a local league all the year round, facing those 20 teams for decades, and over time, some “dead enemies” will be formed 」.
Take a familiar example: The Clippers and the Lakers, which have been fighting for the Los Angeles derby since the Clippers were built, have to prove that they are the real king of Los Angeles. The same is true of American high schools. When the two teams with the label of “dead enemy” match, the audience must have the biggest voice and the game that players and coaches want to win most.
For those star players in major colleges and universities, high school basketball connects the front stage of their basketball career, so it must be full of competitiveness.
I believe everyone has heard of the concept of “Star high school students”. What is the reason for selecting these?
Just like Zeng fanbo, who was once awarded as a four-star high school student when studying in American high school, when you played a certain role in high school, your scout report will be put on player data websites such as Rivals.com and 247sports.com, then, through the analysis of professionals, you will compare and rate the excellent players of the same term all over the United States for the reference of all university scouts.
(Zeng fanbo high school data report)
Generally speaking, high school is the key node for players to decide whether to take the career path in the future. If you are outstanding, university scouts from all over the country will come to watch your competition on site and provide you with scholarships according to the situation, then even if one foot enters the door of professional sports.
University: Impact NBA, are you ready?
From high school to college, basketball really began to be cruel.
Since NBA banned high school players from entering the league directly, NCAA has become the only way for more than 90% of players to enter NBA. According to statistics, only of high school basketball players will enter NCAA level 1 league in the future, while only 4% of level 1 league players will eventually enter NBA draft.
0.86%x4%= 0.0344%, the number we mentioned at the beginning is obtained.
What is the concept? This means that only one NBA player will be born out of 3,000 high school basketball players.
Therefore, it is said that every NBA player is Jordan in his own story, which actually applies to NCAA. Many special basketball students who can play in the first-class league of College enter the university through scholarships. And ten high schools in the United States are not necessarily a player who can get a first-class league scholarship.
However, if you are a genius handed down from the world and the top high school students in the United States, the universities will always rush to ask for you. Besides providing scholarships, they will also visit the house and put forward various favorable conditions, you are almost paid. (Refer to the movie weakness)
But don’t think it will be stable after entering NCAA. After entering the university, in addition to maintaining a high level of competition, we should not forget the identity of our students. You still need to maintain a GPA of more than 2.3 to play. If you are not allowed to play, naturally no one can see your true level, and it will slowly fade out of NBA scout’s vision and get farther and farther from your dream.
And because the popularity of NCAA in the United States is no less than that of NBA, the members of the college basketball team have become a little famous. This fame may also become a stumbling block on your way to dream about NBA. Many rare talents have been lost in the feeling of stars holding the moon in the university, thus ruining their career.
In the process of impacting NBA, most players will sign their own brokerage companies to take charge of your affairs. Help you make a detailed plan from the aspects of endorsement, hype, training and goal ranking.
In this process, your agent may be the person you spend the longest time with, and many players will also adhere to the mentality of “fat water does not flow to outsiders, hire your relatives or friends to do brokerage work, but due to the lack of professional knowledge and the mastery of industry rules, most of them will still have problems, such as Leonard and his uncle who” muddled the water.
Maybe everyone has noticed that many NBA players only play in NCAA for one year and two years at most to participate in NBA draft. Why?
Let’s take a look at the NBA draft.
Of course, basketball technology is a very important point, but NBA draft is actually more in the selection potential and talent. Jonathan cuminga and Scottie Barnes in recent years are good examples. Of course, they all performed very well before the NBA draft, but there are still many rough details in technology. What the management attaches more importance to is the “unprocessed Jade” nature of them.
What do you mean? That is, the Scouts will analyze the height that they may reach in the future through NBA’s top training under various conditions. Generally speaking, many players who have talent overflow or want to make money in the league earlier will announce their election after staying in NCAA for a year or two at most.
However, there are also older newcomers who have played NCAA for four years and then entered NBA, and what they are seeing are usually relatively mature football winds and combat capability. The most typical is Van frit of the Raptors. Four years after the battle for Wichita State University, he became the main rotation of the Raptors in the second year of the league, each game handed over 8+2+3+1 equilibrium data, and was selected as an all-star in 2021.
Therefore, it is not “talent monster” or “jumping man” that can enter NBA. Strictly speaking, after entering NCAA, the players have four years to become stronger for NBA to see.
Moreover, it is not only to become “James” that there is food to eat. NBA is certainly the best destination for basketball players, but if they can’t get in, it doesn’t mean that their efforts will be completely wasted. The mature sports system in the United States can still give them the opportunity to live on basketball.
If you don’t reach the professional level standard, online red ball player, school basketball coach, trainer and other professions can have a good career and income. According to statistics, there are more than 120000 basketball coaches in various levels in the United States, and their average annual salary is about 53,000 US dollars.
For people with professional standards, they can not only go to overseas leagues like Moody’s and Beverly, NBA also provides buffer platforms such as G League and summer League for young players and drop talent shows, giving them the opportunity to improve themselves in a professional environment. With the maturity of technology, maybe I can call back to NBA.
Along the way, at first, parents put basketball in their children’s hands. When you get to high school, it may be because of the coach’s words that make you a real athlete. Before you go to college, college scouts will take you to one of the world’s highest level basketball stages; When it comes to NCAA, your agent will make all preparations for you to become a professional player.
Everything is based on the motivation you get every time you shoot the ball, the joy you feel in every ball brush basketable nets sound, and your unique love for basketball.