How is the current way the United Sates develops young basketball players, AAU, compare to that in other countries and affect the quality of play we see on the court?

Coaches create teams to be in AAU to teach kids about basketball, make money, or both. As of recent though it seems that more and more coaches are starting to care more about the money than teaching. They’ve taken away attention to detail and have sacrificed teaching players key fundamentals in favor of flashy plays that catch people’s eye. In his Wall Street Journal article, Kevin Clark explains just that in a paragraph about NBA player Michael Beasley. Clark mentions that while Beasley was struggling to transition into the NBA, “[He] finally conceded a fundamental flaw: No one, at any level in his basketball career, had asked him to play defense. And especially not in AAU. ‘If you’re playing defense in AAU, you don’t need to be playing,’ [Beasley] says. ‘I’ve honestly never seen anyone play defense in AAU”’(Clark). This is a clear case of what can come from poor coaching. It is almost impossible to succeed at any level, let alone the NBA, for a player to not know how to play defense.  Beasley was the second pick in the 2009 NBA draft and was expected to be an All-Star type player. Now eight years later, he is struggling to just stay in the NBA because he never was taught the correct way to play defense. To build on Beasley’s comments; a former NBA player and current coach of an AAU team, Maurice Taylor, had similar thoughts. “These teams don’t value PRACTICE and TEAM play,” Taylor said. Some of these coaches don’t give their boys the ammunition needed to compete in structured systems. That’s why so many don’t succeed.” These comments are especially alarming coming from a coach of an AAU team. Taylor knows enough about basketball to notice the lack of knowledge from the guys currently coaching AAU teams. Having players come out and make these statements should be very alarming for anyone who is considering putting their child in AAU basketball. 

Many veteran and former NBA players have recently spoke out against AAU. The most notable being when future hall of famer Kobe Bryant said, “I just think European players are just way more skillful… They are just taught the game the right way at an early age.” Bryant claims can be taken seriously because he is one of few people who are familiar with both developmental systems. Bryant’s father played professional basketball in Italy, where his family lived for seven years. During those years is where Bryant started to learn to play basketball. Bryant is known to be one of the most fundamentally sound players to ever play the game. Many basketball experts, and even Bryant himself, attribute that to his time spent over seas. “Horrible, terrible AAU basketball,” is who Bryant feels is to blame. Not everyone agrees with Bryant’s take on AAU though. In his article for SB Nation, Ricky O’Donnell writes that, “the NBA is loaded with young talent right now that came from the same scene Bryant is taking issue with” (O’Donnell). This point can be disproven by a CBS article written by Gary Parish. Where Parish mentions that after reaching out to six different NBA scouts that, “five of the six said that, yes, Bryant is probably right that European players, in general, are taught basketball more effectively than American players” (Parish). This statistic backs up Bryant and makes it clear that the American basketball developmental system needs work. Bryant is not the only former player to bash AAU publicly. Another future hall of famer, Kevin Garnett, had some negative remarks in a recent interview. In this interview Garnett says, “Our league now is at a point where you have to teach more than anything. AAU has killed our league. Seriously, I hate to even say this, but it’s real.” Each Bryant and Garnett had NBA careers spanning multiple decades, long enough to see these changes take place. More and more players will come out and continue to have their voices herd until a change is made. 

The United States and basketball dominance have been synonymous for the past few decades. One would assume that the best basketball training takes place here in America, but that isn’t the case. This is seen in a same Wall Street Journal article about Michael Beasley. Clark compares the way Beasley was taught to that of Peja Stojakovic, who is Serbian born player. The article reads that Stojakovic, “remembers spending four hours a day dribbling through chairs and working on defense and other fundamentals in practices. Mr. Beasley, on the other hand, says he can’t remember any specific defensive drills his AAU teams ran.” (Clark). The lack of attention to detail on these fundamental aspects of the game is what’s hurting basketball here in America. This point is furthered by the story of Brandon Jennings, who opted to play basketball in Italy instead of going to play college.  In an article on Grantland Max Blau explains Jennings time in Italy. “It was, he says, the most intense two weeks of his basketball life. If he’d never gone to Europe, he says, ‘I wouldn’t know the pick-and-roll game. I wouldn’t know how to guard, wouldn’t know how to fight through screens. I’m stronger now”’ (Blau). These accounts show how much more value is put on simple skills and fundamentals in European Countries as opposed to here in the United States.

However, some still feel as though AAU is best way to develop young players. In his article for USA Today, Chris Korman supports the AAU because of the exposure it gets players. He writes AAU helps the young athletes by, “introducing them to a world so many of them couldn’t dream of, a world ripe with possibilities and opportunities” (Korman). Korman feels that these young players get to now showcase themselves and get more chances to be seen by college coaches than they would just playing high school basketball. One of the greatest high school shooters of all-time and trainer, Teddy Dupay, would disagree with Korman on that topic. Dupay shared via Facebook, “They don’t go to see players. When they do go, it’s to be seen by players they already want to make them feel desired. It’s called recruiting.”  Known trainer and basketball mind, Tiny Green, feels that there are other and better ways for players to get themselves out there. He writes, “There are many ways to get exposure, like College Elite Camps. I don’t care what anyone tells you, there is no better way for a player to introduce themselves to a college than Elite Camp” (Green).  Based off these claims it is hard to argue that AAU is the only reason players get exposure. 

Overall, these articles and quotes prove the ineptitude of AAU basketball. Due to the corruption and lack of teaching from coaches, young basketball players in America are at a disadvantage compared to those in Europe. If it does not start soon the level of play will continue to decline, leading to worse basketball across the country. Some of the best developmental ways aren’t getting taught to kids, and if aren’t soon may never be again. This could put the United States behind other countries in basketball, a sport we are known for dominance in. As of now there unfortunately isn’t a better solution to develop young to adolescent basketball players than AAU, but if and when there is it won’t take much for it to be better. 
