The Give and Go: Future NBA Stories

Credit:  USA Today

The Give and Go is a quick back and forth between Paul Mitchell and Chris St. Jean about a relevant subject in the NBA at that moment.

Chris: Mitchell, last week LeBron James was upset because his 10-year-old son was supposedly being recruited by colleges already. LeBron claims he already has offers on the table and felt that it should be a violation to do so for a kid so young, yet in the same breath talked up his son’s passing skills and compared his son’s pass-first mentality to his own.

That got me thinking...  This is inevitable, right? In roughly 8 years we’ll be watching LeBron James Jr. play his first college basketball game for Duke (Does being the Team USA coach give Coach K an edge in recruiting?). Months later, he’ll be the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. And there’s a chance his father, LeBron James Sr. (from now on we have to call him senior, right?), may even still be a player in this league. The first NBA matchup between LeBron James Jr and Lebron James Sr will be the biggest story in sports for a week in 2024, am I right?

So, Mitchell, I’m curious, what is the most crazy/uplifting/depressing/unbelievable/shocking/must-watch NBA story that you envision will take place in the next 7-12 years? The story that will make Deflate-gate and Donald Sterling look like that time when Jayson Williams tried to cover up shooting his chauffeur in the face with a shotgun. Seriously, that should have been a bigger story, no? So what do you have, Mitchell?

Paul: This is a great question because this is the NBA. It’s the weirdest, most accessible, and most progressive professional sports league in existence, replete with conspiracy theories, scandals, and eccentric personalities littered throughout its history. David Stern’s (dictatorial) reign as Commissioner alone had a great collection of potential “30-for-30” documentaries that would never get greenlit by the league, from Tim Donaghy to the dress code to the whole New Orleans Hornets situation and the Chris Paul-to-the-Lakers veto. Adam Silver could very well dominate this exercise over your “next 7-12 years” timeline, with any of his proposed draft lottery reforms or increases to the age limit, or especially overseas expansion.

I agree with Will Garcia when he writes that “I think that a woman will play in the NBA in my lifetime.” Jonah Jordan took this point a step further a couple of weeks ago for Grizzly Bear Blues and argued that Elena Delle Donne could help the Memphis Grizzlies this season and step right into their wing rotation. The first woman to play male professional (team) sports would be maybe the biggest sports-related story… ever? of the last 100 years? If it were to happen, it would be in the NBA (or maybe baseball? hockey?), and especially as the league increases its emphasis on spacing, shooting, and skill over size and post-play. I’m optimistic that a female NBA player is a realistic option, but one that might trend towards the end of that 7-12-year spectrum, in my opinion. Our society is making progress in our gender relations but, as someone who reads the comments sections (and political stories), I doubt it happens over the next 5 years.

On the more negative and scandal-side of this question, I’m sure at some point we’ll see some kind of drug-related bust or investigation come about, just as in other sports. It’s always been whispered about that HGH and steroids are a bigger issue in the NBA than we’d ever realize, given the nature of the game and our culture’s (misguided) preconceptions about the effects of PEDs (related to muscle mass). The morality and practicality questions aside, there’s no doubt that a (probably large) number of (probably high-profile) NBA athletes have turned to extracurricular methods to come back sooner from injury or to play a full season (or to get paid in a contract year). I hope this scandal doesn’t come about, because I could care less about any “cheating” conversations and prefer to look at the “drug use” aspect, and the War on Drugs has shown how nuanced we are when it comes to substances in this country. I will, however, take a steroid or PED scandal over any sort of issues concerning violence (basically the NFL’s last year in the news cycle is any league’s worst-case scenario).

I’ll leave you with one more personal favorite: At some point in the next, let’s round up and say 10-15 years, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will (be forced to) seriously invest NBA resources into promoting and improving the Developmental League into a legitimate rival to the NCAA. It still might be impossible, given the political ties between the two entities, but it would take a collection of NBA owners to realize that they’re indirectly subsidizing their competition, and that they could lay claim to some of the NCAA’s sweet, sweet TV money themselves.

Going back to the days when college athletes had to prove “hardship cases” in a court of law to enter the league, the NBA has always ceded authority to the NCAA and allowed the organization to thrive, even now discussing stricter age restrictions intended to boost the college product. In my ideal future, the NBA owners realize that with a relatively small financial investment in competitive wages and coaching/development, they could draw the next generation of future-NBA superstars directly, bypass the middle man, and make billions off of their own version of March Madness. The NBADL Tournament works for me, and with elite “amateur” talent in the pipeline, the sponsors and networks will follow.

So those are three stories that I think would qualify. What do you think? I’m curious to see which crazy directions you’ll take this topic. Oh and how dare you include “Deflate-gate” in this, like it’s any sort of legitimate sports scandal. 

Chris: I knew I’d get a reaction if I included that.  I included “Deflate-gate” because it shows how little legitimacy has to do with today’s news cycle.  I hate to bring it up, but the mere whisper of HGH and LeBron James in the same sentence will put enough fuel into the sports media (and media in general) engine whether or not there are legitimate accusations.  I don’t want to see that day, nor do I care really, but I’m afraid it’s inevitable.  

I love the idea of the first women to play in the NBA.  I hope that happens sooner rather than later (I think it might).  And your musings on the NBA choking the NCAAs lifeblood by investing in the NBDL and making it the likely destination for the country’s top 50 high school prospects each season actually delights me. (You did this to yourself NCAA.  What does the Big East even mean anymore?).

One unspoken issue that seems to be continually proved out by the numbers is this.  The 3-point line is officially too close.  Especially in the corners.  If people are upset with the amount of 3’s taken in the current version of the NBA game, imagine how upset they will be in five seasons when 15-20 teams are taking as many 3-pointers as the Houston Rockets are this season (who just so happened to be shattering records left and right).  It’s the natural evolution of the NBA game as a result of the data we’ve gathered.  Kyle Korver is shooting 53% from long range for goodness sake.

In theory, it sounds simple.  Extend the 3-point line.  But do you once again extend it above the break and leave the corner as is, even furthering the value of a corner 3?  Or do you take the drastic measure that no NBA owner is going to want to hear.  Widen the court.  Widen the court enough so that the corner 3-pointer is the same distance as the top of the key.  But that involves eliminating seats that customers pay to sit in.  And that will be a war.  Who will advocate for the widening of the court?  I’m not sure.  The players union?  Analytic-friendly front office workers?  A certain subset of NBA owners?  Adam Silver?

I don’t know how that plays out, but I’m sure this story will build up to that.  It will start with old timers complaining about the new style of the game and too many 3-point shots and ‘in my day we played in the post’ and progress to a movement.  There will be some type of tipping point. Maybe a player hits 10 3’s in a quarter.  Or 18 in a game.  Or maybe a team implements a mutation of Moreyball and takes only 3-point field goal attempts.  Something will come of this at some point. 

Another story I saw recently was a profile of Manute Bol’s son Bol Bol.  Yes.  His name is Bol Bol.  The Bleacher Report feature had coaches claiming Bol Bol had Manute’s size, but the ball-handling and shooting ability of a wing.  Bol was painted at this superhuman athlete of the future.  A ‘7’4” Kevin Durant’!  The likelihood of this actually happening is slim to none.  As we know, Kevin Durant is a superhuman freak maybe only matched by the young Giannis in his combination of body-type, fluidity, and athleticism.  But what if this actually comes to fruition?

Fifteen years ago, if you told me there would be a dude named Kevin Durant who is 6’11”, one of the best shooters in the NBA, and played shooting guard as a rookie, I would have called you insane.  Who’s to say that we won’t have a 7’4” small forward in ten years.  And who’s to say it won’t be Bol?  Imagine Manute Bol’s son, a 7’4” marvel completing the evolution that began in the early 2000 All-Star games when Shaq, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett shared the floor together to form a trio of towers.

Imagine Manute Bol’s son as one of the NBA’s best players.  What I love best about this hypothetical, is not the goofiness of Manute Bol reincarnate, and not the unbelievability of a 7’4” small forward, but that Bol Bol seems to be as genuine as Manute was even at 15, and maybe even as selfless.  When his own mom is saying, “Hey Bol, it’s cool to give to those less fortunate, but don’t forget to keep a bit for yourself.  You earned it after all,”  and the kid idolizes his father not just for what he did on the court, but off the court as well.  Well, imagine all the good that could come from one of the best player’s in the world having the background that Bol Bol does.  It’s a feel good story and I can only hope we still have those in 7-12 years.