The Sufis have a saying, “Before you kill the cat, make arrangements for the mice.”
There’s been quite a bit of buzz around Kobe’s – then LeBron’s – comments on the state of youth basketball in America and the AAU’s role in it.
“Kobe Bryant believes European basketball players are more skillful than American basketball players, and says it’s a growing trend that can be blamed on the greed and coaching at the AAU level.”
(Disclosure: I’m not a strong advocate of the model.)
What’s needed though is for all of us to raise our hands and stand up as gate keepers of the game.
Transformation will only take place if all involved – coaches, athletes, *parents*, administrators – shift toward being solution-finders.
Our game and the athletes it is meant to serve cannot thrive as is. Yet, if we need to get rid of the existing development model, something will need to be envisioned, that fits the North American basketball infrastructure, to take its place.
Where do you start? Well… IMHO, if you want to understand how to change a system, you need to first understand how the ‘players’ in that system are incentivized.
Start there.
