437 GOOD MEN

While watching the Nuggets-Clippers game last Saturday night, I noticed that the Denver Nuggets employ Ruben Patterson, Reggie Evans and Eduardo Najera.  These three guys should never be on the same basketball team.  I had a vision of chaos while imagining the three on the court at the same time. Najera shoots and misses. Patterson pokes Evans' eye out as they both go for Najera's errant shot.  Najera, following his wild miss, runs out of control towards the ball and breaks a bone in Patterson's neck, tearing his ACL in the process, as he falls to the floor. 

            After the image left my mind I realized that these guys are 3 of the most talented basketball players on the planet, although the talent level of each is somewhat meager by NBA standards.  

A guy has a better chance of getting struck by lightning twice in a lifetime than he does of striking it rich in the NBA.

            Criticism leveled at NBA players over the last 15 years by the media, fans and observers is unmatched in comparison to athletes in other sports. Thugs. Criminals. Lazy. Selfish. Undisciplined. These are some of the tamer attacks and at times, one can argue that these assorted labels fit some of the actions of some of the players. One thing, however, is evident. The NBA may be the most difficult job market to penetrate in the world.  Players in the NBA are born with a special genius; a gift not at all unlike those of world-class musicians or prize-winning novelists and poets.   With genius comes misunderstanding.  Oftentimes, our society lacks the insight to understand certain personality traits and behavior which accompanies virtuoso performers.  This isn't about condoning or excusing bad behavior, but is about sharing firm truths about NBA players that people may not appreciate. 

            A guy has a better chance of riding a camel across the Mojave Desert in a shirt made of Reynolds Wrap and surviving than he does of surviving in the NBA. 

            Canadian-born physician and minister, James Naismith, hung a peach basket in Springfield, Massachusetts, in December 1891, and invented the game of basketball to keep kids from suffering through the long New England winters.   Because of the game's convenience, it quickly became the most popular game in the country.  Farm kids, inner-city kids, suburban kids, rich kids, poor kids, black kids and white kids all have had equal access to this sport.   Naismith's original aim of keeping New England kids warm and physically active in the winter months has evolved into worldwide Biddy Leagues, YMCA leagues, AAU Summer Leagues and even Midnight Basketball leagues aimed at keeping inner-city youths out of trouble and out of danger. Basketball is the one sport every American male can say they have attempted to play and, because of various athletic shortcomings, eliminate as a potential career path. 

A guy has a better chance of hooking up with Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan and Angelina Jolie at some point in his life than he does of hooking up in the NBA.

            Estimates of worldwide participation in the sport at any given time vary, but the number is estimated at upwards of 400 million people playing with 212 Affiliated National Federations on six continents. Statistics indicate that there are approximately 4,000,000 kids playing organized basketball at the pre-high school level in the United States.  Nearly every high school in the United States fields a varsity basketball team and approximately 500,000 boys participated at the varsity level this past season. At the collegiate level there are approximately 7,000 scholarship players at Division I and Division II schools.           

There are just 437 players in the NBA. 

A guy has a better chance of contracting Salmonella from eating a Hershey bar than he does of getting an NBA contract.

            Of these 437 players, 82 are international players representing 38 different countries.  NBA scouts and GMs don't miss on potential players anywhere in the world.  If there is a 7'4"spear fisherman working off the coast of Vietnam, they'll find him and see if he can play.  If there is a cobbler's apprentice in Romania with a 52-inch vertical, he's going to get a tryout.  If the janitor at Goteburg High School in Goteburg, Sweden spreads the word that one of the locals hit 1,400 free throws in a row, you can bet an NBA scout will be on the way.  Or, if there is a Street Basketball  - a tough and gritty, jazzy and freewheeling basketball art form played in places like Germany, Spain, Israel, Puerto Rico and Argentina and made famous at Harlem's Rucker Park - phenom anywhere in the world, he will be found and offered the chance to compete for a roster spot.  Dirk Nowitzki was discovered playing Street Basketball by former Dallas Mavericks' coach, Don Nelson, and Shaquille O'Neal was initially noticed playing Street Basketball in Germany where his father was stationed by the U.S. Army. 

            A guy has a better chance of getting an STD from touching a doorknob at a church than he does of getting to the NBA.

            Current estimates suggest there are over 1,000,000 lawyers in the United States.  In 2000, there were 813,770 physicians in the United States according to data from the Bureau of Health Professions.

The simple truth is that it is much easier to be a doctor or a lawyer in this country than it is to make it to the NBA.  This truth is even more staggering when you consider how much more competitive it is to become an NBA player than it is to become either a lawyer or a doctor.  Law school and medical school is a pipe dream for most American kids. These schools are comprised primarily of people with means; people who have been entitled to the best educational advantages since birth.   Every kid in this country has had an opportunity to be an NBA player.  

A guy has a better chance of successfully hiding a $500 a day crack habit as a cameraman for the 700 Club than he does of being a success in the NBA.  

            Imagine if every kid had the same opportunity to be a lawyer as they did to be an NBA player.  Imagine that every school had a courtroom replica in their gymnasiums instead of basketball hoops and every playground contained a judge's bench, defense and prosecution tables and a jury box - instead of basketball courts - and people got together to play pick-up lawyer.  Imagine law leagues for kids where imaginary cases are argued and millions of children participate in local YMCAs and recreation centers.  Imagine varsity law teams competing at the high school and college levels and after graduation there are only 437 jobs available. A competitive scale like this would certainly help to cut down on the number of frivolous lawsuits and lawyer jokes in this country.  

               A guy has a better chance of cross-dressing in prison and remaining a virgin than getting the chance to complete a crossover dribble in the NBA. 

                The NBA is simply made up of the best of the best, which is far different from other international sports such as hockey, tennis and golf to name just three.  These sports are inaccessible to the vast majority of kids around the world. Wayne Gretzky, as an example, is arguably the best hockey player in the history of the game, but he never had to compete against inner-city kids from say, Houston, Texas (or any kids from the state of Texas), or inner-city kids from Montreal for that matter, because the game is too cost-prohibitive for the masses and ice skating rinks are few and far between across the globe.  So one is left to conclude Wayne Gretzky is the greatest hockey player to ever play the game from the limited talent pool available.     

A guy has a better chance of making a living by buying Lotto scratch cards and winning every now and then than he does of making a living in the NBA. 

Every player on an NBA roster has faced astronomical odds to be a part of the league, including guys like Eduardo Najera, Reggie Evans and Ruben Patterson.  No matter how hard David Stern tries to make these guys just like us, be it through a dress-code or any other rule he may try to impose on the players, they are not like us and will never be like us.  No one should excuse or condone illegal or outrageous behavior from any NBA player, but before people start pointing a finger at these guys for behavior that they find personally or morally objectionable they ought to begin from the level of respect each player has earned, instead of treating them with malice reserved for collection agents and convicted felons.  Go on and take a shot at these guys when it's deserved, but tip your cap in reverence before aiming.  They ain't like you.