Youth basketball in the United States needs fixing. The NBA is stepping in.

Thu, 6 Mar 2025, 2:04 pm·11-min read

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - FEBRUARY 27: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets looks for an opening against Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks during the fourth quarter at Fiserv Forum on February 27, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

LAS VEGAS - Joakim Noah, the former Chicago Bulls star, recently asked an audience of highly regarded basketball prospects whether they enjoyed rebounding. Sensing a tepid response from the teenagers on the other end of the Zoom call, the 2014 NBA defensive player of the year rotated his camera angle to show off his Hawaii home, complete with a beach view.

“This is what rebounding gets you,” said Noah, who retired in 2020 after earning more than $140 million during his 13-year career.

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Noah’s speech equating blue-collar basketball with life-changing riches was part of the NBA’s new effort to have a more direct and comprehensive presence in domestic youth basketball development. The NBA formed a “Global Basketball Development Committee” in 2023, tasking Vice President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars, former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and other NBA figures, including Doc Rivers, Chris Paul and Jayson Tatum, with drafting recommendations for how the league could improve the U.S. youth basketball landscape.

Of course, the committee is operating at a time when American basketball supremacy is being threatened. Though roughly 70 percent of NBA players were born in the United States, the American men’s and women’s Olympic gold medal streaks were both nearly snapped in Paris last summer. Foreign-born players have won the past five NBA MVP awards, and the past two No. 1 overall draft picks hailed from France. As LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry inch closer to retirement, hyped American prospects such as Zion Williamson and Ja Morant have encountered unexpected challenges and haven’t quite taken the torch.

The NBA committee’s early findings have prioritized team play, professionalism, healthy workloads and improved coaching in its programming for the United States’ next generation of basketball players. Citing conversations with international stars Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama about their basketball journeys, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in January that the European developmental model boasts “a lot that is preferable to the American system.”

“Yes, you have to have incredible physical talent, but Victor is a great example [because] he had incredible training as a youth player and was part of first-class organizations,” Silver said while hosting a pair of NBA games in Paris. “That’s necessary. For someone like me who had the opportunity to go to great schools and be trained by [former commissioner] David Stern and others, I don’t think sports is any different. It’s not an accident that these players reach these levels.

By contrast, Silver said: “Young [American] players are playing too many games, and I think that there’s sometimes too much of a focus on skill. We think some of the injuries that our young players are experiencing are overuse injuries. There’s [also] something to be said when youth players are part of a singular organization, in some cases from [age] 14 through 19, there’s much more of an incentive to bring players along. ... We can do a better job, and we can learn from European development.”

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Setting a higher standard

The NBA has spent decades interfacing with the complex world of youth basketball, which sees top prospects playing year-round for their high school teams, traveling AAU programs and, in some cases, USA Basketball’s youth teams. To further complicate the landscape, prospects are now able to pursue lucrative name, image and likeness (NIL) sponsorship deals while in high school and college. NBA rules require that all prospects be at least one year removed from graduating high school to be draft eligible.

Dumars, who played for the Detroit Pistons in the 1980s and 1990s, said modern players have certain advantages over past generations: They are more media savvy and technology savvy, have greater access to personalized skill instruction and can be found more easily by scouts. But the unforgiving nature of the AAU environment and the competition for scholarships and endorsement deals can encourage players to jump from program to program in search of greater opportunities and to play a self-interested style.

“Once you get to the NBA level, there are a lot of one-on-one guys who don’t affect winning who are sitting on the bench,” Dumars said. “You can get away with just getting your numbers when you’re younger. We’re trying to address that in the teenage years now and not wait until they get to the NBA at 20 years old and then start talking about winning for the first time. That’s the worst-case scenario for front offices, coaches and teammates: Someone who has never focused on winning is the hardest guy to implement into your system.”

The NBA founded the G League Ignite in 2020 as a minor league alternative to college basketball, creating a program for future lottery picks such as Jalen Green and Scoot Henderson to earn a six-figure salary and prepare for life in the professional ranks after graduating high school. With top players now able to receive NIL compensation while playing collegiately, the NBA folded the G League Ignite last year and shifted its focus to providing resources to players while they are still in high school.

Isiah Harwell, a top 20 prospect in the Class of 2025, was one of 13 players selected for the NBA’s “Court of Leaders,” which preaches the importance of respect and leadership and provides one-on-one mentoring with a league office employee. Through the invite-only program, the Idaho native interviewed players during the 2023 All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City, received coaching from former NBA player Andre Barrett and met with his mentor, TaJuan Watson, while recovering from an ACL injury.

Court of Leaders participants have also taken educational trips to the African American History Museum in Washington and to civil rights landmarks in Atlanta, in addition to learning NBA terminology while going through game film breakdowns with former NBA assistant coaches. The program has attracted AJ Dybantsa, Tyran Stokes and Baba Oladotun, the top-ranked high school players in the 2025, 2026 and 2027 classes, respectively.

“There’s got to be professionalism in all you do,” Harwell said. “The league wants to invest in the right person and not take any chances. They’re telling me how I can affect the game without the ball in my hands and better ways to pick my teammates up with words of encouragement. Ninety percent of the league is role players. Duncan Robinson is always going corner to corner knocking threes down for the Miami Heat.”

The 18-year-old Harwell, who is represented by the Klutch Sports agency and has committed to the University of Houston, said the NBA’s advisers have told him to “act the same towards everyone you meet as you would your parents” because “you’re always being watched” by the league’s talent evaluators.

This emphasis on comportment coincides with some notable stumbles for some recent high-lottery picks: Morant was suspended twice by the NBA for showing a handgun on a pair of internet live streams, Williamson was suspended by the New Orleans Pelicans in January for showing up late to a team flight, and Anthony Edwards has been fined $245,000 this season for complaining about the officials and using profanity in postgame interviews.

“A lack of basketball discipline and character can end up shortening your career,” Dumars said. “At some point, it becomes a liability. Too often, a lot of these kids never see it when they’re young. I promise you I’m not trying to be holier than thou. I just put a big stake into character. It’s the way I’ve always been. You can have a personality and you can be as flamboyant as you want on the court, but you can still have character and integrity. They’re not mutually exclusive.”

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Constructing guardrails

Doncic’s foundation published a report in December that studied and compared youth basketball in the United States and the Balkan region, which produced the Los Angeles Lakers star and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, among other NBA players.

The report, which was based on 1,300 participants and included interviews with players, parents and coaches, found that the United States possessed superior resources, facilities and showcase opportunities, particularly for young women, but that “the pressure to perform drives players to burnout” and “the chase for viral fame sidelines fundamentals.” More than half of the American parents interviewed felt their child “must play basketball without breaks just to remain competitive,” and 43 percent said the system prioritizes “individual star power [more] than team play.”

Dumars said AAU basketball shouldn’t be viewed as a “bogeyman,” and he said the system helped build his confidence and introduce him to higher levels of competition when he played alongside Karl Malone when they were Louisiana teenagers. While the NBA has adopted a pragmatic approach to complementing the AAU system rather than working to replace it, David Krichavsky, the league’s head of youth development, said the NIL era has “supercharged” some of the challenges facing players.

“We are mindful of mental health and the pressures put on young people at an early age,” Krichavsky said. “NIL has led us to double down on the off-court and life skills programming. We need to make sure we’re giving the athletes and their families the tools and resources to deal with all that’s being thrown at them.”

Around the NBA Cup semifinals and final in December, the NBA and Nike hosted high school showcase games in Las Vegas and held a community service event for the prospects. Link Academy (Missouri) seniors Chris Cenac Jr. and Jerry Easter were among a group of players who listened to a speech by former NBA star Deron Williams and put together holiday care packages and gift baskets.

“They’re trying to give knowledge so young players don’t get overwhelmed with the pressure,” said Cenac, a top 10 prospect from New Orleans. “I think that’s great. The biggest problem right now is trying to block out the outside noise. That’s the hardest thing for kids my age. Everyone is on social media, and everyone has something to say.”

Easter, a top 40 prospect who has committed to the University of Southern California, estimated that he plays 70 games each year for his high school and AAU teams. The Ohio native understood why influential figures such as Silver and Rivers have argued that American teenagers should spend more time practicing and less time playing.

“I feel like it’s too many games,” Easter said. “I wish I had sat out my ninth grade year to work on my game. I got to work out with Kyrie [Irving] in the summer. If I had kept doing that, I would have gotten better and better, but I didn’t have the time because I had AAU games. I just want to stay healthy to get to the NBA, and I’ve got to keep doing the right things. I see a lot of high talent get in trouble, and it ruins your whole career.”

Krichavsky, like Silver, noted that European prospects often benefit from experienced coaching in stable academy-like settings. Learning to play within an intricate motion offense and developing the skills necessary to play positionless basketball require a greater emphasis on team practice time rather than individualized workouts. These dynamics were evident on the Olympic level, where the U.S. men faced stiff challenges from Serbia and France, who both had core groups of players who had trained and played together for years.

Alternatively, less coaching structure can lead to undesirable outcomes: Players might be subjected to unnecessarily heavy travel schedules in AAU, or hop from high school to high school in search of immediate returns such as a larger role or a bigger platform.

The NBA has taken steps to address these issues by hosting mandatory coaching clinics through Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball League for high-schoolers, which is a major feeder of professional talent, and by counseling parents to monitor their children’s playing workload.

“FIBA is really far ahead of us on coaching certification,” Krichavsky said. “We want to elevate the level of coaching development across the landscape. Overuse is endemic in our grassroots system. It’s going to be hard to tell kids to play less, but if we’re able to convince parents that it’s in their kids’ long-term self interest to play less basketball, we think we have a shot.”

There are no guarantees in basketball development: Wembanyama, the most polished teenage prospect of the past 20 years, has thrived with the San Antonio Spurs, but he was unexpectedly sidelined last month because of a blood clot in his shoulder. Given that inherent unpredictability and the entrenched nature of the U.S. talent pipelines, the NBA has identified the core strengths of the European system and begun implementing initiatives to mold the lives of elite American prospects with its learnings. The goal: to keep the billion-dollar business rolling long after James, Durant and Curry retire.

“If the next generation becomes the best they can be, of course it’s going to be good for the league,” Dumars said. “You have to be stewards of the game. [America] has the majority of great players throughout the NBA, but that doesn’t mean you can turn a blind eye to the system.