Brunell4MVP
Footballguy
There is only 1 NBA player that is worth doing this for, and that is LeBron James.Being naive. The best 4-5 players in the league control their orgs if they want.
So much of this goes back to the AAU system. I coached mid level AAU teams for about 20 years. Just quit a couple of years ago. But on the top AAU programs, by age11 the best players and their parents are already scheming to get their kids on the same team so they can be dominant. And so they can stay in the best hotels. And go to the best cities to play tournaments. I'm not saying it's the wrong thing to do. Or that it's new (pre-AAU private High Schools were already doing it at a more limited level). But now, it starts way, way young. And the mentality travels with them into the NBA. They want to build their own teams. I mean, they did it that way as kids so why won't it work at the NBA level? Well it will if you have the #1 player and he grabs a couple of other top 20 players. But if you are the number 4-7 player (ie Harden) and you pair with a couple of good players, well you need the coaching to get you past the #1 player and his buddies. And guys like harden don't get this IMO.