‘Days Of LeBron James From Akron, Ohio, From a Single Mom Are Numbered’: Draymond Green Says Basketball Has Gone From A Poor Kid To ‘Rich Kid’ Sport With No Originality
Youth sports have certainly changed over the years. The true talent always used to be in the hood. Kids who saw sports as a way out of the projects or the key to a better life filled the NBA, especially.
Over the years, the costs of travel ball, trainers and everything that goes along with playing in tournaments and seeking exposure, has made it very hard for kids of simple means to compete over time and develop.
Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green is very opinionated, and he flat out said on his “Draymond Green Show” podcast that basketball is no longer a poor kid’s game: “It’s a rich kid’s game.”
Draymond Green says basketball is no longer a poor kid's game: “It's a rich kid's game”
“I didn't learn how to do a proper individual workout till I got to college. Growing up I'm going to hoop. Where's the nearest run. Drop me off, I'll play all day. That's what we did. We… pic.twitter.com/8OumH1U7oS
“I didn’t learn how to do a proper individual workout till I got to college,” Green said. “Growing up, I’m going to hoop. Where’s the nearest run. Drop me off, I’ll play all day. That’s what we did. We hooped all day. I think there’s a huge benefit to that because you just learn to see the game.”
“It’s different when somebody just putting you in a position to tell you to do this move. How do you use your creativity? How do you learn if somebody just say do this? How do you know what your game is if you never tap into it and just figure it out?” he continued.
Draymond Green Says The Money Makes The Player Now
Green says training and guidance is important for any athlete trying to achieve high marks on the court, but the originality of the game has been lost, with the majority of players being taught to play the same way and becoming clones of each other. Parents are paying big money to have their kid look and play like the pros. Often to their detriment and development.
“I think there’s a time and place for a trainer and I think with where the game has gone, you need those resources in order to be successful,” Green continues.
“I feel like basketball used to be a poor man’s game,” Green declared. “Poor kids played it. We were poor. We had nothing and it was our way out. Basketball is not a poor kid’s game no more. Basketball is a rich kid game”
Will We Ever See A Poor Kid Like LeBron James Rise To GOAT Status Again?
“The days of seeing LeBron James from Akron, Ohio, from a single mom, those days are numbered. Because if you don’t have the resources these days, you can’t make it. But that’s also why you don’t see as great basketball as you did before, because there’s no imagination,” Green said.
“Everybody’s doing the same thing, playing the same way. I think a lot of that is due sometimes to having trainers. You just become a carbon copy of somebody else the trainer created.”
Green’s take on youth hoops isn’t out of the blue. There’s clearly been a change in the type of player that makes it into the NBA. We are seeing the sons of former NBA players, who have access to the highest level of coaching, training and visibility infiltrate the pro ranks at an all-time pace. We see less and less kids from underserved areas moving up the ladder and making their way into the league.
It’s not a theory that is 100 percent proven, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.
