You heard it right after LeBron James talked about where his talents were going — other older players jumped up and said they would not have done this. They would not have willingly joined forces with other superstars to chase rings.
Former NBA player and current Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin gets that.
He told the Deseret News the culture is different than when he played and says AAU basketball — the traveling high school All-Star teams that play through the summer — is the reason.“Just thinking back in the day when I was younger in the league, superstar guys wanted to have their own show. It’s changed,” Corbin said. “These kids they grew up in AAU, being on all-star teams, and they’re used to playing with superstar guys. And they want that kind of team because ... they have a chance to win big every night. They want to win championships and not have to be the only guy getting it done.”
Added Corbin: “I think it’s a change for this new generation of kid who’s used to being on these superstar teams from the AAU thing.”
So if you hate the Heat, blame AAU basketball. Which is fine, AAU gets blamed for a lot of things (the deterioration of fundamentals among younger players, isolation basketball, the lack of a midrange game in the NBA, global warming).
Also know what AAU spawned and what LeBron James did this summer resonates through the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. Small market owners see what happened with Miami, what Carmelo Anthony did with Denver, and they want their control back. (If they ever had it, but that’s another story.) You see Utah trading away Deron Williams before he can even think about becoming a free agent because they believe they can’t keep him after his deal is up. Small and middle-sized market owners want the ability to keep their stars, and that is going to be a big part of the subtext of the CBA talks.