Kendrick Perkins is critical of AAU basketball and the tournaments Kendrick Perkins is not a fan of what he saw at AAU tournaments There has been a lot of criticism towards AAU basketball in the last couple of years from current and former NBA players. Obviously, there is something wrong with AAU, and Kendrick Perkins is the last person who spoke out against the AAU system and how it's run. Former NBA player and current
analyst went to social media to break down what he saw in the AAU tournament in which one of his sons competed. Apparently, all hell broke loose at the tournament in which he saw people and players fighting and teams cheating their way to winning the tournament. Some squads are even bringing older players to play against the younger competition to increase their chances of winning, which is not the competitive spirit you
want in these tournaments. Scroll to ContinuePerkins is critical of AAU
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One of my sons got an AAU tournament, and we lost in the semifinals to a great Memphis team. I don't know what is going on with this AAU basketball no more because when I was playing these types of things I witness over this weekend, this wasn't going down when I was playing. They had two fights break out today in the gym. Players are fighting in the stands in front of kids that are running around the gym playing. They got parents fighting, teams getting disqualified, teams cheating. Older players are being brought to play against younger groups just to win the trophy. What are you teaching your kids?
Kendrick Perkins, via LinkedIn
AAU tournaments are ridiculous
Perkins didn't stop there and said young kids who are participating are behaving horribly, cursing each other out, which is no way to behave in such a tournament. This behavior starts at home, and Perkins pointed out that he would not let his son behave this way. On top of that, he believes the tournaments are rigged and need serious improvement on all possible levels.
Yall aren't teaching them to have any type of morals or no competitive spirit. Ya'll teaching them how to cheat, and then on top of that, I'm hearing kids cursing kids out there on the court. I'm talking about 10,11-year-olds, and you have to be learning that from the crib. If my son said anything out of character, it's going to be him and me when we get back to the house. This AAU stuff is ridiculous; it's not even about basketball anymore; this is a business. Teams are doing whatever just to win a trophy, and it's getting out of hand. I had to come in and address the problem because I had to leave the gym with a headache. I'm in the middle of the game, and on the next court, it's two grown men fighting over a game. Kids are watching these guys fighting. All you people out there that are running the AAU tournaments, ya'll need to clean these up. Ya'll out of control, man.
Kendrick Perkins, via LinkedIn
Perkins mentioned that everything that happened in the tournament was a disgrace for the people organizing these events. Even former NBA player Gilbert Arenas talked about the AAU and how it's a horrible system that doesn't teach the kids how to play the game the right way. AAU league needs a serious change on so many levels because that is the only way the kids can benefit and develop their skillset accordingly. Perkins has the right to be mad if he even witnessed half of the things he mentioned because that is not a healthy environment for kids that want to hopefully one day become professional athletes.
ByAndrew Pistone
Published on Tue Jun 21 2022
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3 min read
It’s easy for fans to look at the current version of their favorite NBA players and think “they were probably dominant at the sport since they were in middle school.” There are many prodigies whose talent is apparent from a very young age, but there are others who faced obstacles in their journey to just get on the court with the world's best players.
Even the most casual NBA fans could give you a summary of each of the players below, but few people could explain what happened to help these players make it into the spotlight. There are college stars, national champions, and players who shattered record on the professional level, but they all had a bumpy start.
These players didn't have to resort to being recruited from a junior college after graduation like some of the great NFL players. But, there was definitely a period when they questioned if they could achieve their ultimate goal.
Maybe it takes a high school coach to challenge you at a young age to become great?
Either way, enjoy our list of NBA Stars who didn't make their high school teams on their first try:
Carmelo Anthony
It’s hard to imagine that a player who was selected third overall in the NBA Draft and carved out a 17 year career would not be viewed as a potential superstar in high school. But that’s exactly the reality Carmelo Anthony faced when he moved to Baltimore from New York with his mother right before high school.
The teenager was obsessed with sports; he was a baseball player for Towson Catholic High School, despite basketball being his first love. But he didn’t quite have the physical profile of someone who would be one of the greatest scorers in NBA history at age 14.
Anthony was cut from the varsity basketball team standing just over six feet tall, and then got his lucky break.
“I grew four inches and I thought I was going to die, literally,” Anthony said. Via CigarAficionado.
The growth spurt may have been hard to deal with physically at the time, but it gave the future ten-time NBA All-Star the jump start he needed to carve out a prolific career.
Melo wasn’t the only high profile player to not quite make the cut during his high school basketball career. Two of the greatest champions in NBA history, and sports history, also experienced setbacks trying to advance playing the game they loved.
Bill Russell
The 11-time NBA champion, who played with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s and '60s, had to work hard to earn a spot on the junior varsity team. Still very visible at events like NBA All-Star weekend, Bill Russell went from struggling for playing time as a teenager to being an ambassador for the sport all over the country.
“As I stared at the list of players on the bulletin board who advanced to the next tryout, I did not find my name on it, no matter how many times I read it,” Russell wrote in an article for the USA Today.
Fortunately for Russell, his middle school coach met up with him after the tough news and told him that he wanted the youngster to really work on his game, and practice each day at the local Boys and Girls Club.
Russell took that advice to heart, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Michael Jordan
But the most famous story of an NBA player not being deemed good enough to play on his high school varsity team belongs to none other than “The Last Dance” hero himself, Michael Jordan. Jordan’s story at Laney High School is well chronicled, and perhaps debated among some as to how the events truly unfolded.
At the end of the day, likely the greatest basketball player who ever lived was told he was not good enough, and that should be motivation enough for anyone to keep working at their craft. Jordan was bypassed on the Laney varsity roster, and was instead relegated to the junior varsity team.
“Whenever I was working out and got tired and figured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it. That usually got me going again.” Jordan confirmed via Newsweek.
The future Chicago Bulls NBA champion lit up the competition at that level, and was fueled by the slight.