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Zion, Scottie Pippen and the Downfall of Basketball

It was silent on the bus. All you could hear was the sound of the engine, the tires on the road, and occasional noise from the late night traffic. Nobody could hear the screaming in my head.

All season long I had warned them. I had told them no matter how good we thought we were, no matter how much more athletic and talented than our opponents, no matter how many times we blew out inferior teams, when it all comes down to the last game of the season, none of that would matter. Our opponent will be just as good, just as athletic, confident, and talented. The question I posed was "who will be more prepared?"

I knew during those practices, just as I knew that night, they weren’t listening. During the practices leading up to the playoffs, I jumped on them about that very fact. I asked if they even cared? I asked if they wanted to win? They looked at me like I was some crazy homeless guy they had never seen before and laughed me off.

That was the problem with talent those days.

Coddled by their parents and guardians, never told they could do wrong, these kids were coveted by adults who saw them as their meal tickets, from the time they could jack their first three. Gathered together in summers to tour the country taking on all others in glorified pickup games exposed them to power brokers with promises of NBA glory via college basketball. Before they had ever accomplished anything with their High School team, they blasted everyone in their path in Vegas, San Diego, Florida and other AAU tourneys in front of Calipari, Krzyzewski, Self, Pitino and a whole host of other big-name coaches. To these kids, they had already arrived. They had already accomplished their goal – a scholarship. Or maybe it was the attention. I am still not sure which was more sought.

We didn’t just lose the championship game that night, or our shot at glory or going into the history books. We lost our souls.

Through the dead silence, a whisper of a voice crept into my ear. "Hey coach," he said as he leaned his lanky 6’-8" body into the aisle. I turned to him, expecting him to ask what to do with jerseys or when the banquet might be, or some other innocuous question.

"Coach, you should see me in Summer ball. I am so much better than tonight."

A rush of emotion flooded my head. Using every ounce of will power not to punch him, nor scream at him my response, I managed to quietly smirk and say, "Summer Ball??? Why do think that is important right now?"

His answer was succinct. "Coach, Summer Ball matters way more than this!" he exclaimed. He went on to explain that summer basketball is more important than the high school season because summer is when you get exposure and an opportunity to get a scholarship. He believed that the end goal of playing high school basketball was merely to stay in shape for the ‘important’ part of the year.

I turned back in the brown padded bench seat, contemplating whether I felt the lack of seatbelts might be a positive if we were to crash at that moment, putting us all out of our misery. I visibly shook my head but did not respond. I sat and soaked in that stew, absorbing the comment like a broth of some tainted animal. I was disgusted.

But as disturbing at that was, and as enraged as I could be at this kid for blowing an opportunity to win a championship because he simply didn’t think it was important, my emotions quickly turned from rage to disappointment. I was no longer angered with him because he was not upset that we lost. I didn’t hold any animosity toward him because he seemed to care more about how he played than the result of the game. My disappointment wasn’t even about the fact he didn’t really express much interest in something that might have been one of the most memorable events in his lifetime.

No, I was disappointed because he was right correct accurate.

It was that moment I realized high school basketball has changed forever. No longer will kids compete with other neighborhood kids. No longer will whole communities of students and parents feel pride for their school. No longer will adults be able to look back and tell stories of their former glory while wearing a ratty old letterman jacket that no longer fits. Who cares about that anymore?

The fact is, he was spitting truth. The club circuit and the system of basketball had turned from a place where you learn valuable life skills such as work ethic, dedication, loyalty, sacrifice, role playing, leadership, and comradery, to basically being solely about advancing one’s self to the ‘next’ level. No longer does it matter that winning a high school championship shows your character. No longer would it matter that you learned how to play the game fundamentally. Overcoming obstacles, earning your spot, dealing with setbacks – all things that made you a better player and person – pointless. Why bother with all of that when you can walk into any situation you choose and dictate your own role to your benefit only. AAU teams help you get yours, without having to do anything for it.

I couldn’t deny that as fact. That was my last game coaching high school basketball. High schools don’t matter anymore. I didn’t matter anymore.

The other day, Rachel Nichols posed a question to Scottie Pippen and Tracy McGrady about Zion Williamson and her ESPN show, "The Jump". The question to both was whether they have seen enough of Zion to determine if he has locked up the number one pick in the draft.

I immediately recalled that moment on the bus where my player informed me that my services would no longer be necessary.

I didn’t even need to hear an answer from these two former great players, even though their answer was equally disturbing. No, the question itself said EVERYTHING you need to know about the state of college basketball.

Are we talking about teams that might vie for a championship? Are we discussing programs that are elevating themselves into regular discussions due to their play? Are we marveling at plays we just cannot get over? Nope. We are talking about the NBA draft.

When it comes to college basketball, that is what we end up talking about.

Pippen went on to suggest that Zion Williamson shut it down. "He has done enough for college basketball, it is more about him personally," Pippen explained. McGrady stated, "College football players are skipping bowl games and preparing for the combine. Why shouldn’t these guys do that?"

Much like the disappointment in my former player’s comments, I am equally disappointed here. Not because I disagree with what they are saying. They are right correct accurate. Zion would be a fool to risk injury playing in useless, pointless college games, potentially impacting his ability to maximize his earnings in his first two season in the NBA.

Do you realize that the difference between the guaranteed money he would earn as the #1 pick and the #2 pick is $2.1 million dollars? If you were offered $2.1 million dollars to sit the rest of the season, would you consider it?

Did you know that the difference between the #1 pick and the 5th pick is $6.9 million dollars. Even a recoverable injury that slows you to the point that people start questioning things could cost you almost $7 million dollars.

There was a time when the idea of a player simply quitting in the middle of a season would have been considered blasphemous! It would have never even been considered, let alone muttered out loud. Today, there is probably a consensus that Zion is an idiot for playing a single minute more for Dook.

This discussion really has signaled to me that college basketball is no longer about teams winning championships and players learning the game. Despite the fact that only 30 out of the 5,000 plus Division I players will achieve guaranteed money in the NBA, the college game now seems to boil down to merely a showcase for those few elites in order to determine their pecking order.

No, actually, it has gone past that. The fact that Scottie and Tracy think Zion doesn’t need to prove anything else only shows that players soon won’t even need to play a single college game.

Twenty years ago I did some scouting on the side for some NBA teams, and was asked to attend the Desert Classic, one of the three post-season events showcasing college players for the NBA scouts and front office personnel. The first year I attended, the top players in college gathered and participated in drills and games. By the second year, several of the top 10 players decided they would skip games. By the third year, none of the top 10 played. That event eventually got cancelled, and today, the pre-draft events have all become useless time wasters, as players realize that attending those events and participating, only can expose them in a way that could hurt their draft stock. Will the college game see the same decline in participants?

We have already hit the point where elite players are realizing that developing hype through only half a season is enough, and doing anything more might damage that. I wouldn’t be shocked if players do shut it down mid-season. It isn’t right, but it is the correct decision to make if your goal is to maximize your opportunity for earnings.

At what point will certain players believe that playing ANY college games might expose them and drive down their stock?

Tracy McGrady brought up the idea that getting drafted is not about ability, but about the ‘excitement’ that player can bring in order to put butts in the seats. Now, I find this an extremely flawed way of thinking, but I cannot argue that this mentality is probably pervasive throughout front offices in the NBA. Once again, winning is put on the back burner, and the end result teams are seeking seems only profit related [it is short-sighted in my opinion, as winning makes you money, not flash-in-the-pan players]. Eventually this will shape the actions of everyone within the system of basketball.

Zion Williamson IS an exciting player. Heck, I wish he had donned a Carolina jersey instead of going to the dark side so we could watch in awe of his amazing athleticism. He probably SHOULD shut it down, and I am not saying this because I would like to see Dook lose. At this point, he HAS locked down the #1 pick, and he shouldn’t risk that. In fact, he absolutely is risking that because if he has a bad stretch of games, and RJ Barrett has a good stretch of games, Zion might well have handed RJ $2.1 million dollars. [I cannot imagine that locker room being impacted negatively from this ].

I wonder. Do you think there is a possibility that Zion does shut it down? If that were to happen, do you think Mike Krzyzewski might have the epiphany that I had on that bus back in late March so many years ago?