5/21/2018
CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — Russell Westbrook sat at the end of Team WhyNot’s bench next to the final reserve, his legs extended courtward and his eyes tracking the ball.
“Good D! Let’s go, let’s go!” the N.B.A. star shouted, fulfilling his role as patron saint of the youth basketball team named after his personal mantra. He seemed to live and die with every call, standing and cheering as his players did and scowling when things went against them. His eyes always followed the ball; he hardly seemed to blink.
It was still well over 90 degrees outside at 6 p.m. as the sun beat down here on Friday, May 11, but inside the windowless Lakepoint Champions Center the air conditioning was cranked and the 12 basketball courts were lined with hundreds of spectators, a few of whom took pictures of Westbrook as he cheered on the teenagers.
At one court, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade watched his son, Zaire, compete for E1T1 United, a youth basketball team from Florida. At another, Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards cheered on the St. Louis-area team now named Brad Beal Elite. The games featured a ton of talent and slightly sloppy but also frequently impressive play. The referees tended to swallow their whistles.
Also, Nike swooshes. Everywhere.
This was the third session of the season for the 17-and-under teams in the Elite Youth Basketball League (E.Y.B.L.) — Nike-sponsored summer basketball. Sixteen teams were playing at once, with 24 more to go that night, each 32-minute game allotted 90 minutes on the schedule. (The teams would all also play three more games that weekend.) Some contests attracted just a few parents; others, like those featuring undefeated Team Takeover, had more than a hundred people looking on.
It was, in short, business as usual even though business has been anything but usual in the top tiers of youth basketball. A yearslong federal investigation into college basketball recruiting has spawned indictments, roiled college basketball and prompted an N.C.A.A. commission to recommend substantial reforms to the youth basketball-industrial complex where Nike and its top competitors, Adidas and Under Armour, exert significant influence.
Much of the recent blame for the never-ending reports of under-the-table payments to recruits has fallen on sneaker companies and their intimate involvement in summer leagues and showcase events for pre-college players. The federal investigation connected funds from Adidas to the parents of top recruits, who would then commit to college basketball programs the shoe company sponsored and, hopefully, later sign an endorsement deal with Adidas after turning pro.
“The corruption we observed in college basketball has its roots in youth basketball,” former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who headed the N.C.A.A. commission, said last month.
The N.C.A.A. adopted her panel’s recommendations, including that sponsors submit to greater transparency. The N.C.A.A. plans to introduce its own basketball showcases as soon as next summer during the crucial July evaluation period, when college coaches conduct their most intense scouting, and bar those coaches from seeing players anywhere else.
Given the scrutiny, a dialed-back approach to the grass-roots circuit this spring and summer might have seemed like an appropriate reaction. Yet in the nearly-anything-goes world of teenage basketball, that has not transpired.
“Nothing’s been different at the Nike circuit,” said Brian Long, a coach for the Las Vegas Prospects, who may have two more cross-country trips this summer.
“Jackets, sweats, shoes, leggings — anything you need,” said the AOT Running Rebels’ Isaac Okoro, who will graduate high school next year. “It’s a blessing.”
There is some evidence that Adidas Gauntlet, that company’s summer basketball series, was affected by the past year’s news in part because Adidas’s former director of basketball marketing was indicted in federal court. A coach at one Gauntlet team, who requested anonymity, said that the league had new management, and that league meetings and gear had come later than usual.
The Under Armour Association and E.Y.B.L. are also still thriving. Dozens of teams are still receiving tens of thousands of dollars in shoes, uniforms, gear and travel money. Though college coaches may not attend these showcases in May, the games were still streamed to their laptops, and they will surely return to the league finals in July.
In a statement, an Adidas spokeswoman said: “Adidas’s commitment to grass-roots basketball and young athletes is unchanged. Adidas continues to provide young female and male athletes opportunities to play the game and showcase their talent in a fun, competitive environment as they aspire to reach their dreams.”
“We remain committed to grass-roots basketball and look forward to being a part of this next evolution for the sport,” said an Under Armour spokeswoman.
“We are a longtime supporter of grass-roots basketball and care passionately about the game,” said a Nike spokesman. “Nike firmly believes in compliance with laws and fair play.”
Benjamin Brafman, a prominent defense attorney who represented a defendant in a corruption case involving FIFA, said it was not necessarily unwise for the companies to continue the status quo.
“The indictments that surfaced did not condemn the entire industry,” Brafman said.
While E.Y.B.L., Adidas Gauntlet and Under Armour Association are known as “grass-roots basketball,” they are anything but. Rather, they are the tip of the spear of those companies’ gigantic global marketing campaigns. Nike spends $4 billion a year on marketing, according to Matt Powell, an industry analyst at NPD Group. Adidas and Under Armour similarly spend around 10 percent of their wholesale revenue on marketing.
“You could look at this very altruistically,” Powell said. “The brands are doing this because they see benefits to themselves in the long-term, but it’s not illegal.”
Coaches from all three summer leagues — people who, admittedly, depend upon the companies’ largess — praised the status quo.
“Our kids come from low-income areas,” said Donyell Bryant, the vice president of basketball operations for Stackhouse Elite, an Adidas-sponsored team affiliated with the retired star Jerry Stackhouse. “We try to raise money to not have them pay.”
Shane James, the head coach of the Under Armour-sponsored Canada Elite, said Canada is “getting a ton more players in the N.B.A. in the last five years or so. A part of that is what U.A.A. and E.Y.B.L. have been able to offer.”
There was an undeniable professionalism at the E.Y.B.L. session, with the games running on time and all coaches wearing slacks, polo shirts and no hats. Jim Burson, a former college coach, was observing various games, performing what he termed “quality control” as a Nike consultant.
“They’re well-run, with top-level talent,” said Steve DeMeo, a former Division I coach who drove up from Destin, Fla., where he coaches a junior college team.
The N.C.A.A.’s president, Mark Emmert, has said he hopes to legislate the Rice commission’s changes into law in August. It remains to be seen how summer basketball as it currently exists will be affected. Judging from the E.Y.B.L. session here, the shoe companies are not going to shut their leagues down voluntarily.
After Brad Beal Elite lost by four points Friday night, Beal spoke passionately for several minutes while the players looked up at him, morosely but intently.
Later, Beal said that the players genuinely enjoyed playing in a league sponsored by Nike, while acknowledging that Nike was benefiting.
“If you’re a company and you can sell that, sell this league, sell the format of it, kids are gonna buy it,” he said, adding, “That’s what the kids are into, man. They love shoes. They love sneakers.”
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