NBA Bound
By: Devin Glass
NBA
The NBA ( National Basketball Association ) is a men's professional basketball league in North America. The NBA is home of the best basketball players in the world. The NBA was founded in June 6, 1946 in New York City, New York. The founders are Eddie Gottlieb and Leo Ferris. It formed when The NBL and the BBA came together.
Why The NBA?
Why I chose the NBA is because it seems like a very fun career to have. Basketball is my favorite sport and being able to do it as a job would be fun. The team I would be most interested going to is The Houston Rockets. There are many steps to get into the NBA. I'm going to tell you how starting from when you were just in middle school.
Middle School
Middle school is where your NBA journey begins. In middle school this is where you start getting seen for high school. This is important, high school either makes you or breaks you so starting in middle school is good. Start learning the fundamentals of basketball. This is the time you start getting good and getting seen. Practice the fundamentals shooting, dribbling, etc and you should be good.
High School
High school plays a big part in your NBA journey. This is where you possibly get into college for basketball. Starting off. Most start on freshman level. Others on JV ( Junior Varsity). If your really good you'll most likely be on varsity. If your on freshman you have 4 years to get onto varsity, same goes for JV. If your on varsity, you gotta just show out every season. No matter what level your on you have a chance at The NBA. Your aiming for a basketball scholarship. If your lucky you'll get a scholarship. If your really really good you can go straight to The NBA like Lebron James, but you'll have to be really really really good. Like unbelievable.
College
College is the biggest role in the journey to The NBA. You might not have to go to college, you might go straight to The NBA if your that good but that barely happens. So be ready to go to college. Many basketball players that go to The NBA usually come from Kentucky, Duke, etc. You don't have to play the full time in college. You can even go to The NBA your first year in college. Going your first year isn't a good idea, you should get more experience. Playing in college is big. You get experience and its a fun time. Getting a NCAA championship gives you a better chance for The NBA. Many scouts are looking and watching you in college. You don't have to show out but its good to play good every game.
NBA Combine
If you are for sure going to The NBA you'll usually go to The NBA Combine. This is where you get your statistics. Players are divided up by positions. Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Small Forward, Power Forward, and Center. They get split up into groups with their position. They run specific drills within their group. The 1st half of The Combine is playing pickup games like 3 on 3. Doing drills like three man weaves, two on two fast breaks, stop and pop at the cone. The second half of The Combine is getting your stats. The athletic testing portion consists of ... No step vertical jump, max vertical jump, bench press, lane agility, and 3/4 court sprints. The physical testing portion is height without shoes, height with shoes, weight, wingspan, standing reach, body fat, hand size/width.
Commit to The Draft
Next step is committing to the draft. The draft is where you get selected to a team. There are 10 rounds. You have a chance at every team in The NBA. There are 30 teams to end up on. Teams are looking for young talented players and or positions they need on the team example point guard, shooting guard, so on. The draft usually takes place in New York City. Players typically in the draft are college players and some international players. The lottery picks give the order of the teams that will choose.
Getting Drafted
There are 30 teams and 10 rounds to be picked. Most people aim to be the #1 draft pick but a majority are happy just to be drafted. You wait in the draft room with your family and everyone else to wait to be drafted. Once your drafted you'll be called up on stage, given a hat, shake the commissioner's hand. You usually get a phone call saying your about to be picked. So wait patiently and hope you get called up.
Life After Draft
Life after The NBA Draft is a new chapter in your life. Your gonna have to leave your family. It's gonna be practice 24/7. Press conferences. Attention. The list goes on, your life will be very different.
Summer League
The Summer League is a period in the summer or off season before the upcoming season where all the teams come together and compete. The rookies and some other members of the team compete. Usually the bench players. It gives the coaches and media a look of the rookies and see what they have to offer. It takes places in Las Vegas. All teams from The NBA + D-League go to compete. They usually give out an MVP to the best player. It's pretty much just basketball games to get experience and get ready for the season.
NBA
All of that leads up to this ... The NBA. The time has come where you made the big league of professionals. The 1st game is the home opener. You may not get as much playing time but hey it's something. Get ready for a long run and fun experience your NBA career.
D-League
The D-League League or The Development League is an alternative league for players who need for practice and just aren't ready for The NBA yet. There are 30 teams just like The NBA. Its pretty much the same thing as The NBA just not as difficult. To give you more experience and to be ready for your time in The NBA.
Salary
Salaries in The NBA are different. There really isn't a specific number. Just depends on how good you are and how much your team is willing to pay. For example a legend like Kobe Bryant is paid $23,500,000. A rookie like Andrew Wiggins is paid $11,269,320. The reason Andrew Wiggins salary is so high is because he was the #1 draft pick. Salaries are different like I said it just depends on how good you are and how much your team is willing to pay you.
Practice
In The NBA you will have to practice 24/7 there is never an off day. When your not playing a game you'll most likely be practicing with your team. Practice makes perfect.
All-Star Weekend
All-Star Weekend is a weekend in mid February where NBA players from all around the league come to compete in competitions. Friday night is the Sprint NBA All-Star Celebrity Game and the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge. Saturday night is the Degree Shooting Stars, Taco Bell Skill Challenge, Foot Locker Three-Point Contest, then last the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Sunday night is The NBA All-Star Game. This is the whole All-Star weekend
Playoffs
The playoffs is an additional time in The NBA season. The top 8 teams from the East and the West compete for The NBA championship. There are 4 rounds. Conference Quarterfinals, Conference Semifinals, Conference Finals, then The NBA Finals. Its a best out of 7. The first person to get to 4 wins first wins that series. Its about a 3 month period.
Off-Season
Off-Season is where you work on your game and get bigger + stronger. You possibly could get traded if your team isn't satisfied in your performance. Or if your team is satisfied they'll resign you. Now you have been through a full NBA season.
Citations
Tipton, Michael. The story of the NBA logo. 1969. Logo. 2011