There has been a lot written lately about the NCAA's long-term viability, the various age-restriction proposals for the NBA's next Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the status of Amateur-ism in general. Super-agent Arn Tellem took to Grantland last week to pen his own thoughts on how to overhaul the NBA's Development League to more thoroughly develop young players:
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/d-league-deconstruction-the-necessary-plan-to-fix-the-nbas-farm-system/
The average NBA fan doesn't appreciate how influential power Agents like Tellum are inside NBA circles. Their power is wielded behind closed doors so the public doesn't get a chance to see them in action, but their fingerprints are all over every major move within the broader basketball landscape. From AAU to the NCAA to the NBA - Agents dictate the terms of the sport's most important conversations. For example – the age restriction is likely to be a key issue during the upcoming CBA, and you can be sure the Agents will fight hard to repeal the “1-year removed from High School” stipulation currently in place – and adopt an “over my dead body” stance on the owner’s initiative to increase the age minimum to 20 (or 2 years removed from high school). Why do they take this position? Because Agents don’t see any big commissions on a player’s first contract – the big payday arrives on their second deal. Power agents like Tellum are already busy maneuvering to make sure their clients (and their pockets) get to that 2nd contract as fast as possible.
Tellum makes some interesting points in his article, but in my mind he doesn't go far enough. For all the people who actually understand how significant agents are within the basketball ecosystem, even fewer appreciate AAU's role in it all. Yes - not every AAU star pans out to be an NBA stud. But the truth is AAU basketball consolidates America's best talent and aggregates it all onto various commercialized stages that are invite-only. If you're not playing on the big time AAU stage, entrée to the upper echelons of basketball opportunity is extremely difficult. The 'branding' of these kids begins as early as 14 and 15 – as soon as they choose a shoe company to play for. It only gets more complicated from there. Make no mistake - Agents are all over AAU basketball. And they should be – choosing an Agent is one of the most important decisions a professional athlete will ever make – and the NCAA provides only for a laughable 2-week period for early-entrants to meet, vet & sign with an agent. This is obviously a preposterous situation – and those in-the-know understand that these player-Agent relationships are cultivated as soon as these players establish market value (usually when they’re 15 or 16 years old).
This is yet another reason why AAU basketball, as presently constituted, is the NBA's real minor league. In my mind, AAU is where professional basketball truly begins in America, and agents like Tellum have played a big part in facilitating that reality. His thoughts are a step forward, but there's a deeper conversation to be had - a conversation our film takes head on. This is one of the many reasons I wanted to make ‘At All Costs’ – and I’m hopeful the film’s content will open a lot of people’s eyes.
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/d-league-deconstruction-the-necessary-plan-to-fix-the-nbas-farm-system/
The average NBA fan doesn't appreciate how influential power Agents like Tellum are inside NBA circles. Their power is wielded behind closed doors so the public doesn't get a chance to see them in action, but their fingerprints are all over every major move within the broader basketball landscape. From AAU to the NCAA to the NBA - Agents dictate the terms of the sport's most important conversations. For example – the age restriction is likely to be a key issue during the upcoming CBA, and you can be sure the Agents will fight hard to repeal the “1-year removed from High School” stipulation currently in place – and adopt an “over my dead body” stance on the owner’s initiative to increase the age minimum to 20 (or 2 years removed from high school). Why do they take this position? Because Agents don’t see any big commissions on a player’s first contract – the big payday arrives on their second deal. Power agents like Tellum are already busy maneuvering to make sure their clients (and their pockets) get to that 2nd contract as fast as possible.
Tellum makes some interesting points in his article, but in my mind he doesn't go far enough. For all the people who actually understand how significant agents are within the basketball ecosystem, even fewer appreciate AAU's role in it all. Yes - not every AAU star pans out to be an NBA stud. But the truth is AAU basketball consolidates America's best talent and aggregates it all onto various commercialized stages that are invite-only. If you're not playing on the big time AAU stage, entrée to the upper echelons of basketball opportunity is extremely difficult. The 'branding' of these kids begins as early as 14 and 15 – as soon as they choose a shoe company to play for. It only gets more complicated from there. Make no mistake - Agents are all over AAU basketball. And they should be – choosing an Agent is one of the most important decisions a professional athlete will ever make – and the NCAA provides only for a laughable 2-week period for early-entrants to meet, vet & sign with an agent. This is obviously a preposterous situation – and those in-the-know understand that these player-Agent relationships are cultivated as soon as these players establish market value (usually when they’re 15 or 16 years old).
This is yet another reason why AAU basketball, as presently constituted, is the NBA's real minor league. In my mind, AAU is where professional basketball truly begins in America, and agents like Tellum have played a big part in facilitating that reality. His thoughts are a step forward, but there's a deeper conversation to be had - a conversation our film takes head on. This is one of the many reasons I wanted to make ‘At All Costs’ – and I’m hopeful the film’s content will open a lot of people’s eyes.
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