“Teaching the Youth the WRONG Thing”: Jamal Crawford Exposes Basketball’s Dark Reality as the Clippers Legend Shares Wise Words for Parents

French players dominated the 2024 NBA draft, but is the fault at a rudimentary level itself? Jamal Crawford may not be the only one, but he surely believes it is. The ex-NBA star shared the issues he sees with trainers at present. This came in a detailed note by the ex-NBA star, which he shared on his official Instagram account.

J Crossover stated he sees kids now with their own trainers, something his generation rarely had. He appreciates all the extra work put in an “extra GOOD” direction. But he believes the work put into a real game will be more useful for any budding basketball player. Further in the post, Crawford pointed out the flaws that exist in this increased setup of kids having their own trainers. “This one goes out to the trainers that are charging kids and families on an hourly basis, but teaching the youth the WRONG thing..” he stated.

The 3x Sixth Man of the Year believes these personal trainers are nowadays approaching the training with a perspective as if their mentee will be playing on the court all by himself. “Parents you are hiring these trainers to further your young person’s basketball potential. BUT….. Some of what is being taught, would NEVER be used in a real high level game,” he added. The flaws that exist at the root level of training are probably the reason that three of the first six picks in NBA 2024 were French players.

Apart from this, the fact players like Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic are dominating the league is yet another testament. Jamal Crawford believes that in order to improve the situation, young players need to focus on playing a closeout on offense, basketball IQ, quick decisions, competitive fabric, smart play, winning traits, and functioning with a team.

However, the above-mentioned trainers rather focus on handing these players with an arsenal of moves to score. We are hurting the future generation of the game with this “bag” mentality. Meanwhile, J Crossover also gave a shout out to the trainers who are helping develop the young talent. However, the former LA Clippers star has not been the only one to point out flaws in training at the rudimentary level.

Why is AAU time and again criticized for lacking in training at the root level?

There is no denying Amateur Athletic Union has acted as a breeding ground for young talent. But from Matt Barnes to Kobe Bryant, multiple NBA stars have pointed out flaws with present AAU. Barnes believes the modern-day AAU to be “watered down”. Meanwhile, Mourning once stated the union to be “tainted”.

Alonzo Mourning went to the extent of mentioning he cannot trust the AAU with his kids’ growth in basketball. As for Barnes, he believes that with different levels like bronze, platinum, gold, and silver in the union, it’s now more about money. This came from Matt during his appearance on an episode of ‘Sloane Knows’ in April this year.

Earlier, Bryant had issued the most serious warning about the AAU through ESPN. He stated the union does not teach kids how to play the game at all. His concern was something similar to Jamal Crawford’s present one. “You wind up having players that are big Earlier, and they bring it up and they do all this fancy crap and they don’t know how to post. They don’t know the fundamentals of the game…” he said. Maybe it’s high time now to address all these concerns lying in our future players’ early stages.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.