International point guards are nothing new to success in the NBA. Guys like Tony Parker, Steve Nash, and Jose Calderon have been key contributors, big money makers and exciting playmakers in the NBA in recent years. Players like Juan Carlos Navarro, Sergio Rodriguez, and Marko Jaric have been key point guards to young teams that are trying to find their way. NBA teams know that they can’t ignore international players and that the new influx of exciting point guards will come from teams that reside in the best European basketball leagues across the Atlantic.
Next year’s draft class looks be a cornucopia of international point guards that will be able to come in and make an immediate impact on their NBA teams. Rudy Mbemba from Sweden and Nando de Colo from France are top point guard talents that pulled out of this year’s draft. And of course there is the Youtube and folklore sensation, Ricky Rubio (from Spain), who has every NBA scout drooling and every fan base hoping for a tank job this season if their team can’t win the NBA title.
And now, I’d like to introduce you to the newest European point guard prospect:
Brandon Jennings of Los Angeles, California.
Perhaps you just did a double take of confusion like every time Paul Walker reads a 3-syllable word or higher in his scripts. Brandon Jennings is not only a lot of fun to watch on Youtube but he’s also the top challenger to Rubio for top point guard in next year’s class and will be playing in one of the top European leagues for the next basketball season. And don’t expect him to be the last American prep star on the hardwood to forego college all together in order to make a million euros overseas for a year and then graduating to the NBA draft.
Brandon Jennings has many attributes that make you pray he runs the offense for an NBA team near and dear to your heart. He’s a legit 6’2” and is a left-handed master with the rock. His athleticism makes Chris Paul look like an ordinary player at the gym. He has a lightning quick first step that leaves defenders guarding a cloud of dust. He has in the gym range on his jump shot and hits it with a solid consistency. He has hands the size of catcher’s mitts and is able to finish at the hoop with both hands. He’s an opportunistic defender that plays the passing lanes well and ends most fast breaks with highlights that make Rafer Alston blush.
However, he has one big problem in his résumé. He can’t make the grade on his SATs and ACTs in order to play Division 1 basketball for the University of Arizona. It’s the reason that his lawyer, Jeff Valle, had been picking the brains of top basketball officials and legal minds to ensure that it would be okay for him to forego the mandatory college experience for one year and head off to Europe to earn a living, play against top competition, and get ready for the NBA draft. As far as Valle knows, it’s okay for this move to be made and it’s one that will be made by Jennings and his family no matter what the score on his final test ends up being (an 820 or higher depending on his high school GPA).
And this brings up a big concern for commissioner David Stern and the rest of those in charge of keeping the process of going from high school to eventually the NBA a moral one. Situations like what OJ Mayo allegedly went through are terrifying for colleges and NBA officials. There has been a concerted effort to keep college hoops relatively clean in terms of money/gifts/friends with benefits given to players. It’s a joke and completely naïve to think that things aren’t being exchanged amongst boosters, agents, and athletic directors to players so that they can make their respective college tour stops (you don’t think they actually go to class, do you?) a lot of money. But now with Jennings setting the bar for prep players that don’t feel like college is worth their time (even for one short year), it opens up Pandora’s Box, according to Talkhoops.net writer, Adam Sweeney. Kevin Garnett opened up this box as a high schooler jumping straight to the pros 13 years ago and many followed after him. Who's to say that this won't be a similar situation? Brandon Jennings could easily be the KG of his generation.
Agents now become more powerful and prevalent in high school hoops. They now don’t have to be so discreet and use untrustworthy handlers to contact the players. They can go straight to the players and tell them about the joys of playing in Europe for a currency that is double the American dollar without having to worry about Teacher’s Assistants taking tests for them and playing for college coaches that try to be the stars of college basketball. Instead of playing for Krzyzewski at Duke for a year and struggling to make the grade at a top-ranked academic university, they can go to Barcelona, have their pick of fine Spanish women and live the life of a king.
Some people think that playing in Europe for a year, as an 18 to 19-year old kid will be too hard on him. The idea that he’ll be playing against grown men instead of high school kids still trying to adjust to their growth spurts is supposed to be alarming. The fact that Euro coaches may not have patience with an American kid that is an inconsistent defender and possibly a little undersized for Euro ball may hurt his status overseas. They think a poor showing in Europe will hurt his draft stock next June when team executives are deciding the futures of their franchises. They think that high expectations will be too much for such a young person to handle on an international scale.
I think that while all of these ideas are valid in theory, it’s a load of crap to assume that a guy like Brandon Jennings can’t handle the pressure and expectations. This kid has been the best player in his class for the past 6 years in Los Angeles. He’s been a celebrity in his neighborhood and in neighboring playgrounds for the past 4 years. He’s been his community’s Jesus Shuttlesworth ever since he made himself become a legend on the AAU circuit. If the NBA’s rule of waiting one year from high school graduation to go professional wasn’t around, he’d have been a top-5 pick in this draft and would be a great prospect instead of a kid with one year of European basketball experience that may or may not be able to handle the pressure of the situation. This isn’t your typical Lenny Cooke story. This is a whole new chapter in the touchy world of young prep celebrities.
This is the story that gets the discussion about the NBA’s rule rolling again in hopes that it can be re-worked and figured out. This is the story that makes the next year for guys like Derrick Favors (high school senior in Georgia), Xavier Henry (high school senior in Oklahoma), and John Wall (high school senior in North Carolina) into a whirlwind of business possibilities. This gives high school kids the chance to be millionaires without having to take money from USC (sorry, Phillip). Brandon Jennings is taking his high-top fade from the McDonald’s All American Game to the McDonald’s in France where he can order a Royal with Cheese. This isn’t Pulp Fiction. For David Stern, this is a Pulp Reality that can lead to socio-economical concerns in terms of teenage boys being thrust into a man’s world that speaks a different language.
We don’t know where Brandon Jennings will play next year. All we know is that it won’t be in Arizona and it won’t be in the NBA. It will be overseas and it will be for a one-year, million dollar contract.
Pandora’s Box is open. And it’s full of cold, hard Euros.
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Photos Courtesy of espn.com, highschoolhoop.com, and montrealfilmjournal.com, respectively.
Next year’s draft class looks be a cornucopia of international point guards that will be able to come in and make an immediate impact on their NBA teams. Rudy Mbemba from Sweden and Nando de Colo from France are top point guard talents that pulled out of this year’s draft. And of course there is the Youtube and folklore sensation, Ricky Rubio (from Spain), who has every NBA scout drooling and every fan base hoping for a tank job this season if their team can’t win the NBA title.
And now, I’d like to introduce you to the newest European point guard prospect:Brandon Jennings of Los Angeles, California.
Perhaps you just did a double take of confusion like every time Paul Walker reads a 3-syllable word or higher in his scripts. Brandon Jennings is not only a lot of fun to watch on Youtube but he’s also the top challenger to Rubio for top point guard in next year’s class and will be playing in one of the top European leagues for the next basketball season. And don’t expect him to be the last American prep star on the hardwood to forego college all together in order to make a million euros overseas for a year and then graduating to the NBA draft.
Brandon Jennings has many attributes that make you pray he runs the offense for an NBA team near and dear to your heart. He’s a legit 6’2” and is a left-handed master with the rock. His athleticism makes Chris Paul look like an ordinary player at the gym. He has a lightning quick first step that leaves defenders guarding a cloud of dust. He has in the gym range on his jump shot and hits it with a solid consistency. He has hands the size of catcher’s mitts and is able to finish at the hoop with both hands. He’s an opportunistic defender that plays the passing lanes well and ends most fast breaks with highlights that make Rafer Alston blush.
However, he has one big problem in his résumé. He can’t make the grade on his SATs and ACTs in order to play Division 1 basketball for the University of Arizona. It’s the reason that his lawyer, Jeff Valle, had been picking the brains of top basketball officials and legal minds to ensure that it would be okay for him to forego the mandatory college experience for one year and head off to Europe to earn a living, play against top competition, and get ready for the NBA draft. As far as Valle knows, it’s okay for this move to be made and it’s one that will be made by Jennings and his family no matter what the score on his final test ends up being (an 820 or higher depending on his high school GPA).
And this brings up a big concern for commissioner David Stern and the rest of those in charge of keeping the process of going from high school to eventually the NBA a moral one. Situations like what OJ Mayo allegedly went through are terrifying for colleges and NBA officials. There has been a concerted effort to keep college hoops relatively clean in terms of money/gifts/friends with benefits given to players. It’s a joke and completely naïve to think that things aren’t being exchanged amongst boosters, agents, and athletic directors to players so that they can make their respective college tour stops (you don’t think they actually go to class, do you?) a lot of money. But now with Jennings setting the bar for prep players that don’t feel like college is worth their time (even for one short year), it opens up Pandora’s Box, according to Talkhoops.net writer, Adam Sweeney. Kevin Garnett opened up this box as a high schooler jumping straight to the pros 13 years ago and many followed after him. Who's to say that this won't be a similar situation? Brandon Jennings could easily be the KG of his generation.
Agents now become more powerful and prevalent in high school hoops. They now don’t have to be so discreet and use untrustworthy handlers to contact the players. They can go straight to the players and tell them about the joys of playing in Europe for a currency that is double the American dollar without having to worry about Teacher’s Assistants taking tests for them and playing for college coaches that try to be the stars of college basketball. Instead of playing for Krzyzewski at Duke for a year and struggling to make the grade at a top-ranked academic university, they can go to Barcelona, have their pick of fine Spanish women and live the life of a king.
Some people think that playing in Europe for a year, as an 18 to 19-year old kid will be too hard on him. The idea that he’ll be playing against grown men instead of high school kids still trying to adjust to their growth spurts is supposed to be alarming. The fact that Euro coaches may not have patience with an American kid that is an inconsistent defender and possibly a little undersized for Euro ball may hurt his status overseas. They think a poor showing in Europe will hurt his draft stock next June when team executives are deciding the futures of their franchises. They think that high expectations will be too much for such a young person to handle on an international scale.
I think that while all of these ideas are valid in theory, it’s a load of crap to assume that a guy like Brandon Jennings can’t handle the pressure and expectations. This kid has been the best player in his class for the past 6 years in Los Angeles. He’s been a celebrity in his neighborhood and in neighboring playgrounds for the past 4 years. He’s been his community’s Jesus Shuttlesworth ever since he made himself become a legend on the AAU circuit. If the NBA’s rule of waiting one year from high school graduation to go professional wasn’t around, he’d have been a top-5 pick in this draft and would be a great prospect instead of a kid with one year of European basketball experience that may or may not be able to handle the pressure of the situation. This isn’t your typical Lenny Cooke story. This is a whole new chapter in the touchy world of young prep celebrities.
This is the story that gets the discussion about the NBA’s rule rolling again in hopes that it can be re-worked and figured out. This is the story that makes the next year for guys like Derrick Favors (high school senior in Georgia), Xavier Henry (high school senior in Oklahoma), and John Wall (high school senior in North Carolina) into a whirlwind of business possibilities. This gives high school kids the chance to be millionaires without having to take money from USC (sorry, Phillip). Brandon Jennings is taking his high-top fade from the McDonald’s All American Game to the McDonald’s in France where he can order a Royal with Cheese. This isn’t Pulp Fiction. For David Stern, this is a Pulp Reality that can lead to socio-economical concerns in terms of teenage boys being thrust into a man’s world that speaks a different language. We don’t know where Brandon Jennings will play next year. All we know is that it won’t be in Arizona and it won’t be in the NBA. It will be overseas and it will be for a one-year, million dollar contract.
Pandora’s Box is open. And it’s full of cold, hard Euros.
Submit Your Comments About This Article
Photos Courtesy of espn.com, highschoolhoop.com, and montrealfilmjournal.com, respectively.