How to become an nba basketball player

A guide to the NBA Draft

The 2018 NBA Draft is around the corner – taking place at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn on 21 June. The Draft Lottery and the Draft Combine have now taken place, leaving us waiting in anticipation for what is in store on 21 June.

The draft system works in the interests of balancing the playing field between teams. Those who are the lowest ranked in the standings will receive the best odds of being awarded the number 1 draft pick, which effectively means the opportunity to recruit the best prospect from the draft class. In the NBA, 14 teams participate in the Draft Lottery, which involves the teams that did not qualify for the play offs.

This article aims to discuss the intricacies of the Draft process with a specific focus on the NBA Draft and provide an overview of how the system operates. The draft is a unique feature of American sport but plays a crucial role in granting young athletes a clear route to becoming a professional athlete whilst – at the same time – offering weaker teams a first right to the talent pool, levelling the competition in the league.

Eligibility

The NBA negotiates with its players through a Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”) on how the league will operate as well as agreeing the rules governing player contracts, salaries, trades and the Draft.

The most recent eligibility rules for the NBA Draft are found in article X(1)(b) of the 2017 CBA.

The starting point when considering eligibility is that a player must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the Draft and, if not deemed an international player, be one year removed from high school.

(1) Automatically eligible:

To be automatically eligible, the NBA requires an athlete to meet one of the following criteria:

• They have completed four years of their college eligibility; or
• If they have graduated from high school in the USA, but did not enrol to a college, four years have passed since graduation; or
• They have signed a contract with a professional basketball team not in the NBA and have played under the contract.

For an international player to be considered automatically eligible:

• They are at least 22 during the calendar year of the draft; or
• They have signed a contract with a professional team outside the NBA but within the USA, and have played under the contract.

(2) Early entry player:

In the USA, it is very common for athletes to play at college level for one year and then (upon turning 19 and being one year removed from high school) enter the NBA Draft. This is known as the ‘one and done’. Many prospects choose this route before becoming a professional player in the NBA as they are not automatically eligible. These athletes must declare their eligibility no later than 60 days before the Draft and it must be accepted by the NBA.

(3) International players:

For a player to fall under this category, they must meet all of the following criteria:

• Permanently reside outside of the USA for at least three years before the draft;
• Have never enrolled in a US college or university; and
• Did not compete in high school in the US.

Why do players have to be one year removed from high school?

 The NBA used to require athletes to wait four years from high school graduation before being drafted into the NBA. A historic Supreme Court ruling – Haywood v National Basketball Association, 1971 – ruled against this requirement.

This opened the door for athletes to join the NBA from high school graduation. High-profile names to do this include Moses Malone, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant.

However, the NBA was keen to change this as it believed players should experience playing against higher-level opposition before joining the NBA (usually achieved through college experience). The 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the league and its players changed the rules to prevent high school graduates from entering the draft until a year later.

The Draft Lottery

The NBA allocates to each of the 14 teams that did not make the playoffs a number of four digit combinations. The lower your position in the standings, the more combinations you receive. For example, the worst team from this season (Phoenix Suns) received 250 combinations whilst second place (Memphis Grizzlies) received 199 combinations whereas the 14^th placed team that only just missed out on the playoffs (Denver Nuggets) received only five combinations. This means that the 14^th placed team only has a 0.5% chance of having the same combinations as those that are ultimately drawn. There are a total of 1,001 possible combinations.

Once the teams have been allocated their combinations, the process for the Lottery can begin. 14 Ping-Pong balls are placed inside the lottery machine and four balls are selected at random. The balls are removed and placed in order, revealing the first four-digit combination. The team with the corresponding combination will be allocated the first draft pick. Thus, the more combinations a team has, the more likely it is to receive the first pick. This process is repeated for the second and third overall picks. The remainder of the picks are allocated based on the reverse order of the season’s standings (not counting those teams in the first three draft picks). This year, Phoenix Suns received the first pick of the draft whilst Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks received the second and third picks, respectively. The Sacramento Kings, with only 53 lottery combinations and a 5.3% chance of receiving the first pick has done very well to receive the second overall pick in the 2018 draft.

After the Lottery, the order for two rounds of 30 picks is complete.

What if the team that receives the first pick also has the corresponding combination for the second or third picks?

A team can only have one pick per round. In this case, the lottery combination for that pick would be repeated to ensure a ‘new’ team receives the pick.

The Draft Combine

Shortly after the Lottery, the NBA hosts a Combine for its Draft prospects. This involves a number of tests for the athletes whilst NBA scouts, coaches and reporters look on. The prospects are measured for height, weight, body fat percentage whilst also recording their bench press, squat, vertical etc. before participating in basketball drills.

This allows prospects to showcase their best skills and talents in the same room as a number of NBA personnel. Not all prospects attend. High profile prospects will sometimes decline their invitation to attend the Combine if they are hoping to avoid injury or because they feel that they do not have anything to prove. Last year, the top three draft picks (Markelle Fultz, Lonzo Ball, Jayson Tatum) did not attend.

Can a college player attend the combine but return to college afterwards?

It is after this stage of the process that a prospect who has declared for the NBA Draft can withdraw without losing their college eligibility. At college level, players cannot be represented by an agent nor be deemed a professional. If a player withdraws from the Draft before the college deadline, which is usually shortly after the Combine, they retain college eligibility and can return to their college. Last year eight players who attended the Combine eventually returned to college. However, if a prospect appoints an agent, they lose their college eligibility.

The night of the Draft

There are two rounds consisting of 30 picks each (one pick per team) – so 60 picks in total. After the first round, the order is repeated one more time. The first fourteen picks are determined by the lottery process but after these three picks, the other teams (who did make the play offs) are placed in a reverse order of their regular season record. So the best team of the previous season picks last per round.

The Draft will start. The team with the first pick has five minutes to either make its selection or to trade the pick to another team who must make its selection. This process continues for two rounds in this pre-determined order.

What happened last year?

Last year, the Brooklyn Nets had the worst record of the season and therefore received the most lottery combinations (250), followed by the Phoenix Suns (199), the Lakers (156) and Philadelphia 76ers (119). The Nets received the first pick. The Lakers received the second pick and the Sacramento Kings, despite only having 28 combinations, received the third pick.

The Brooklyn Nets assigned its first pick to Boston Celtics as part of a historic trade deal whilst the Sacramento Kings traded its pick to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Four days before the Draft, the Boston Celtics traded its 2017 number 1 pick for Philadelphia 76ers 2017 number 3 pick as well as a future first round pick. This meant that the 76ers received the first pick, followed by the Lakers and the Celtics.

The 76ers selected Markelle Fultz whilst the Lakers drafted Lonzo Ball and the Celtics drafted Jayson Tatum.

How to Make It to The NBA (3 Basic Requirements)

Did you know that only 1 in every 10,000 high school senior basketball players get drafted by a team in the NBA?

That equals out to about 0. 03% overall, which means you have a better shot at getting hit by lightning (1 in 3,000) or getting accepted to Harvard (2 out of every 100 applicants) than seeing your name on an NBA roster.

But don’t fret too much! If you play basketball and think you have a shot, then that is a great place to start. While skills, ability, and a little bit of luck, play a huge part, having confidence is the foundation of everything you do in life.

There are, however, some basic steps you can take towards making it to the NBA, which we will discuss today. The information I am going to share about bettering your chances of fulfilling your NBA dream will take a few basic assumptions into consideration:

• You have skills – I don’t want a 45-year old without any talent reading this article thinking that if they follow these steps they too could play in the NBA. This information is related to skilled players only within a certain age range.
• You are not too old – “Too old” in professional sports is way different than everyday life. The age range for people reading this article should be either high school or college-aged basketball players.

Now that we have those caveats out of the way, let’s dive into it. How in the heck does someone actually make it in the NBA?

Quick Navigation

1. Be in Great Physical Shape

The NBA’s schedule is grueling, even to the players in peak physical shape. In order to maintain your strength and conditioning for a potential eight or nine-month season — depending on if your team makes the playoffs — you must stay in shape for the entire year. What does staying in NBA shape mean?

Below are some intense workouts that NBA players do in the off-season to prepare them for the grind of the regular season and playoffs:

Yoga

Yoga is having a moment, and it’s benefits have seeped into the culture of the NBA. Not that the yoga fad isn’t undeserved, as there are countless benefits that pertain to your mental health, flexibility, durability, and physical strength. Yoga is great in helping NBA players with better balance, deeper flexibility, and improved total body strength as well and can also help prevent injury for players when done right.

Skill Work

During the NBA season, you play 5-on-5 games against your opponents, but those long hours spent working on your game alone are where most players’ skill is separated. While this is grunt work to some, working on your individual moves – ball-handling, shooting, defense – will push you even further in the sport. And once you have worked tirelessly on these skills individually, your skills won’t go unnoticed by your teammates or more importantly, your coaches.

As you can see in this video, Jimmy Butler’s workout has an impressive workout that combines skill work and cardio. The number of times he made a hard move and drives to the basket would prove difficult for most. This is enlightening access to one of the league’s 15 best players that shows the dedication to his craft and great for an NBA hopeful to see.

The un-flattering side of working on your individual game is the fact that you will have to work a lot harder on the weak parts of your game than the strong ones. This leads to awful days where you are failing a lot more than you are succeeding due to the trial and error process of mastering a new skill. Understanding that working on your game should be less about doing what makes you look good and working on those glaring weaknesses.

Strength Training

When you look at a lot of NBA players, they aren’t huge like football players but they do have enough strength to play against the world’s best players for nine months. The game of basketball has changed in the past two decades and while the game is still extremely physical, it is called differently by referees which are less lenient on all of the banging that used to be acceptable in the game.

This video, which is the first part of Jimmy Butler’s workout series, shows the importance of functional strength. Functional strength utilizes body movements that you will use continuously during games as opposed to the more stationary lifting of weights that you see in a traditional gym. To put it in simpler terms, squatting and swinging a kettlebell in order to gain strength would serve you better than a traditional bench press because of the range of movement.

2. Self Promotion

This era is as much about making a name for yourself as it is someone else discovering you. When I played basketball in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, the most self-promotion you could do was create a highlight video and send it around to college coaches. Now, with the advent of social media, this promotional landscape is very different. Creating a brand around your high school and college career can help you get noticed.

In a recent interview Zion Williamson, the number one pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, discussed the sensation of him “going viral.” He talks about how one day he was a typical high school junior and the next morning he just began compiling Instagram followers. College coaches and pro scouts now understand that in order to stay ahead of the curve they need to follow big-time basketball pages in order to find the next big thing for their teams.

3. Play College Basketball

The odds of high school basketball players playing in college are around 2 percent. The other thing to keep in mind is that college basketball has many levels. There have been plenty of players that haven’t played for a heavyweight college program – think Duke, Kentucky or Kansas for examples – and have made it in the league, but if you can attend a college in one of the Big 5 conferences – the ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10, and Pac 12 – do it!

These schools have a better shot at playing games on national television and making the NCAA tournament at the end of the year. And while it is each NBA team’s job to scout all talent, giving them that added shine of the big lights on national TV in some high-pressure situations is a great way to polish your game and reputation.

Playing high-level basketball can be extremely rewarding to anyone who is lucky enough to do so. The life lessons that are learned playing sports are countless and learning how to communicate, work together, and deal with both success and failure will follow you into your everyday lives. A career in the NBA can also teach you some rewarding lessons that mirror life.

Final Words

You hope that it will follow you into your next step in basketball, the NBA, but as you can see in this article, it will take a lot of hard work and determination before you can even land on an NBA team’s radar. And once you land on their radar, a lot has to go right in the process before they decide that you are the right fit for their team.

But reading this piece and taking the steps lined out here for you is a great starting point.

Do you have aspirations of playing in the NBA? How many of these steps have you taken towards your dream? Let us know in the comments!

where to study, salary, pros and cons

Author: Professional Guide

Updated by September 29, 2022

Basketball player is a professional basketball player. Such a team game is popular, first of all, in the USA. In Russia, it is somewhat inferior to football and hockey, but still quite in demand. By the way, the ProfGid career guidance center has recently developed an accurate career guidance test that will tell you which professions suit you, give an opinion about your personality type and intelligence.

See also :

Brief description: who is a basketball player?

The basic rules of the game of basketball are usually known to everyone: two teams enter the field, the one that scores more points wins. Points are given for hitting the ball into a basket hanging at a height of 3.05 meters from the floor. The number of points that is counted for each hit depends on the distance from which the throw was made. In the process of moving around the field, players must dribble the ball, beating it off the floor, and not hold it in their hands.

Features of the profession

A professional sports career requires a lot of energy, effort, time and dedication. A basketball player must always be in good shape, his salary and popularity largely depend on the performance of his performance on the field, and he must work closely with other team members. The main duties of a basketball player are as follows:

• Daily attendance at training.
• Compliance with the regime of the day and nutrition.
• Participation in matches.
• Participation in non-match events of the club.
• Regular medical examination, following the recommendations of the doctor and trainer.

A basketball player must be prepared for the fact that he will periodically have to change the clubs he plays for, participate in international competitions from his country, and even during the match, cooperate with different groups of players (frequent substitutions are very common in this game).

Pros and cons of the basketball profession

Pros

1. Prestigious profession with a decent salary.
2. Opportunity to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
3. Opportunity to travel, communicate with representatives of different countries and peoples.
4. The joy of victories and the support of the fans.

See also:

Cons

1. The need for talent or extensive experience to gain recognition and sign expensive contracts.
2. Negative emotions from defeats.
3. Occupational diseases (herniated disc, knee problems, Schlatter's disease).
4. Age restrictions on career length.

Important Personal Qualities

In order to successfully fill the position of a basketball player and succeed in this field, an athlete must be in very good physical shape, he must not have serious chronic diseases, he needs excellent endurance, concentration, speed of movement and reactions, perfect coordination. Most often, very tall athletes become successful basketball players. Analytical thinking, the ability to follow the strategy developed by the coach, make decisions quickly, and work together with the rest of the team will also not interfere.

Basketball training

Russian universities and colleges do not offer basketball training as such. You can learn how to play basketball in sports schools, and then improve your skills in basketball clubs. In parallel, you can get a sports education (including to successfully work as a coach after completing a career in big-time sports). In this context, the specialty "Physical Education" in colleges (code 49. 02.01) or the same name in universities (code 49.03.01). A certificate is sufficient for admission to a secondary school, in addition to it, the results of the Unified State Examination in the Russian language, biology and physics are required for admission to the university.

Courses

Stremlenie Basketball Club

It is necessary to think about where to get the profession of a basketball player, if you have the appropriate inclinations, from childhood. Therefore, most basketball schools offer training for children and teenagers. One of these schools is the Stremlenie basketball club, where individual and team trainings are held. Members of the club also take part in competitions.

The best universities for basketball players

1. MSPU
2. RGSU
3. MGOU
4. RGUFKSMiT
5. RGUFK them. P.F. Lesgafta
6. RSPU im. A.I. Herzen

Read also:

Place of work

Basketball players play for basketball clubs, national teams. At the end of their careers, they work as coaches (both in adult clubs and in children's sports schools).

Salary of a basketball player

The level of income of such an athlete directly depends on his talent, experience, professionalism and fame. The more useful a basketball player can bring to the club, the higher the salary will be offered to him.

Basketball player salary for September 2022

Salary information provided by hh.ru portal.

Russia 15000—15000₽

Career growth

Building a career for a professional athlete is about improving your skills and getting more and more lucrative offers from clubs. With age, it may also involve a change from activity to coaching.

Professional knowledge

1. Human anatomy, physiology and biochemistry.
2. History of physical culture.
3. Psychology of physical culture.
4. Management of physical culture and sports.
5. Biomechanics of motor activity.
6. Rules of the game of basketball.
7. Team strategies when playing basketball.

Famous basketball players

1. Michael Jordan, one of the Chicago Bulls' most popular players, was on the club's winning streak six times in the NBA.
2. Shaquille O'Neal, recognized as one of the best players in the history of the NBA, also known for releasing rap albums and starring in several films.
3. Clyde Drexler, one of the best basketball players in the NBA, Olympian with 20,000 points in his entire career.

See also:

Examples of companies with vacancies for a basketball player

Go get an education, you're too late to be a basketball player - The Jay's - Blogs

NBA players who started playing basketball very late

We all know basketball players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Michael Jordan. They played basketball all their lives, they were talked about even during their school years and no one was surprised by the fact that sooner or later they would get into the world's major basketball league.

But what about the players who first picked up an orange ball not at age three, but in high school, or worse, in college? What chances do they have to achieve at least some success in the basketball field, and do they exist at all?

Everyone has a chance. This is the beauty of basketball. Today we will talk about athletes who got acquainted with basketball much later than most players.

Joel Embid

When I started: 2011 (15 years)

Statistics for career: 22.8 + 9.9 + 2.8 + 2.0 (Blocks \ Blocks)

Achievements: All-Rookie First Team, All-Star, NCAA Defensive Player of the Year.

Process already looks like the top 3 center in the entire league. In today's NBA, if you're a center and you don't have a good and consistent shot, you're in for the fate of Hassan Whiteside. Old-school centers are no longer interesting to anyone, their actions are predictable, there is no threat from them on the arc, therefore this gives more freedom to the defending team. And that's why players like Anthony Davis, Karl Towns, DeMarcus Cousins ​​and Joel Embiid sat down on the "basketball Olympus".

But if in the case of the first three centers, the ascent took 15-20 years, then Embiid needed only 7.

Initially, "The Process" wanted to become a volleyball player and try his hand at the European Championships. But when the young Embiid was 15 years old, he picked up a basketball for the first time and began to copy Hakim Olajuwon's style of play. Joel liked the game so much that in the same year he went to a basketball camp organized by Luc Mba a Mute in Cameroon.

As a result of this camp, Luke was so impressed with Embiid's game and potential that he invites him to try himself in America.

At the age of 16, Joel Embiid moves to the USA and decides to become a professional basketball player.

In the states, the "Process" continued to progress and got into one of the best student organizations - Kansas. In his only college season, Embiid scored something like 11+8, entered the top 30 students and entered the draft with a back injury.

At first, Joel did not work out in the NBA, just because of the unfortunate injury, and for the first two years he almost completely lay in the infirmary. But after the recovery and after the last season, we see a top center, who is undoubtedly far from his peak and will continue to progress.

Dennis Rodman

When I started: 1983 (21)

Statistics on the career: 7.3 + 13.1 + 1.8 + 0.6

Achieving: Member of the Glory Hall, 5-fold champion NBA, 2-time Defensive Player of the Year, 2-time All-Star, 7-time defensive top five.

The best rebounder in basketball history, ready to rip opponents' elbows out with the ball, only got to know basketball in high school. And it is very difficult to call this acquaintance the beginning of his basketball career. Rodman, a model of his school years, did not really know how to dribble, and his shots from under the basket left much to be desired, not to mention the shots from the middle. As a result, throughout his school career, Rodman sat on the bench. Also, young Dennis tried to get into the school football team, but failed there too.

Of course, after such a school "performance", no college offered Rodman an athletic scholarship. As a result, Dennis graduates from high school and goes to work as a janitor at the local airport. And just at that time, the young player has a so-called "growth spurt" and decides to try his hand at basketball again, despite the fact that he did not feel very comfortable in his new two-meter body.

A friend of the Rodman family, he got a position as head coach at a small college in Texas, and offered the young Dennis a scholarship. As a result of his first and only semester (Rodman was expelled for poor progress), the young player scores 17 + 13! Agree, very good numbers for a player who a couple of years ago could not get out from under the ring.

The most interesting thing is that during high school, Dennis was only 170 cm tall. But by the time he went to college at 21, Rodman was already 204 cm tall! It's amazing how he has grown so much in just 4 years.

After his first undergraduate performance failure, Rodman was given a second chance at an Oklahoma college whose team was NAIA. There he spends three fruitful years, gaining 25 + 15, becomes the leader in rebounds and gets into the 19th draft.86, where he was drafted 3rd overall by the Detroit Pistons in the second round.

Everything that happened next is history. Dennis went from a calm and reserved player who did his job in the Pistons, like other "bad guys", into an outrageous, media player.

But it is worth noting that this did not affect his game in any way. Rodman became the best defensive player of the championship 2 times, got into the top five defensively 7 times and became the best rebounder 7 times in a row. Well, it’s not worth talking about his five championships, everyone already knows about it.

Interesting fact: Father Dennis Rodman has 48 children.

Another interesting fact: Dennis Rodman is the oldest of them.

Moving on.

Hakim Potzzhivon

When I started: 1979 (16 years)

Statistics for the career: 21.8 + 11.1 + 2.5 + 3.1

Achievements for Kharmer: Member of the Hall of Slava, 2- 2- 1x NBA Champion, 1x NBA MVP, 1x Finals MVP, 12x All-Star, 2x Defensive Player of the Year, one of the top 50 basketball players of all time.

The Dream, until the age of 16 he was exclusively fond of football and handball. And it was a football career that helped Hakim with footwork and body balance in the future.

At the age of 16, the two-meter-high Olajuwon is invited to take part in a basketball tournament (even though Hakim has never played it). There, a basketball coach notices him and informs Hakim's parents that their son may have a good career, but in Nigeria he will remain only budding. Hakim begins to train hard with his coach in order to achieve something in professional sports. Here's what he said about basketball:

Basketball is something unique. When I took the ball in my hands, I immediately knew that this is what I want to do all my life, you know? After that moment, any other sports lost their meaning for me.

As a result of all this, the parents of a young basketball player sent him to America, where Houston College was waiting for him to watch. Hakim impressed coach Guy Lewis with his game and he accepted the young player into the squad.

Season 1980/1981 Olajuwon missed out because he was still too young to play in the NCAA (17 years old). But over the course of the next three years in college, Hakim screwed up and showed the entire student league who's boss in the paint!

He becomes the Final Four MVP, also earns the NCAA Southwest Conference MVP, and the Rockets begin to fold the 1983/1984 season in order to take Hakim with the first pick in the upcoming draft.

If you are reading this and think that Hakim was very good, you are right. But do not forget that The Dream achieved all this in 5 years from the moment of his first basketball game!

What happened next - you yourself know everything again. Hakim became one of the best centers in the history of basketball, an innovator and creator of new offensive techniques in the paint. Seriously, show me one player in the history of basketball that has played better than Hakim in the post?

Olajuwon led his hometown of Houston twice to the championship, became the most valuable player in one of the finals, the most valuable player in the league and was twice recognized as the best defensive player. Great career, great player!

Dikembes Mutombo

When I started: 1984 (17 years old)

Statistics for careers: 9.8 + 10.3 + 1.0 + 2.8

Achiors: Member All-Star, 4-time Defensive Player of the Year, 2-time rebounding leader, 3-time block shot leader.

Another African who started playing basketball very late.

Until the age of 17, Dikembe "not in my house" Mutombo was fond of exclusively football and did not see himself anywhere except on a wide lawn (or sandy wasteland) with goals along the edges. So his youth passed, if not for his older brother, who invited him to play basketball.

Basketball meets Dikembe in style. In the first game, Mutombo cracks his chin and tells his brother that he will never play this "stupid game" again.

But still, after a couple of weeks, the brother again persuades Dikembe to play. And from that moment began the basketball adventure of one of the best defensive players in the league. Mutombo started playing in the African League and achieved excellent results. A vivid confirmation of this is a sports scholarship from Georgetown.

Mutombo enters the NCAA at the age of 21 and immediately shows excellent results. In his very first season, Dikembe manages to make 12 blocks in ONE game! And in general, the period 1988-1990 was one of the best in history for Georgetown. Under the ring, along with Dikembe, was another future member of the hall of fame - Alonzo Morning. Their bunch was even nicknamed "Rejection Row".

College career can be called successful. Mutombo was named to the NCAA East Division First Team as well as the All NCAA Third Team, and was selected with the 4th pick in the 19 draft91, aged.. 25 years old.

But even with such a late start, Mutombo had a long and fruitful career, spending as many as 18 seasons in the league!

He achieved everything, almost everything. Dikembe never received the coveted ring, but few would say that his career was not a success.

Throughout his career, the Congolese basketball player has demonstrated high professionalism, quality defense and incredible block shots. Mutombo was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year four times, was elected to the league's All-Stars three times, and took part in the All-Star game eight times.

Tim Dancan

When he started: 1991 (15 years)

Statistics for career: 19. 0 + 10.8 + 3.0 + 2.2

Achievements for career: 5-time champion NBA, NBA, NBA, NBA, 5-time champion NBA, NBA, 5-time NBA, 5-time champion NBA, 5-time NBA 2-time MVP, 3-time Finals MVP, 15-time All-Star, 15-time All-Star (10 times first), 15-time Defensive Five, Rookie of the Year, 2003 Athlete of the Year, NCAA Player of the Year .

Tim Duncan is the best basketball player of the 2000s and possibly the greatest basketball player of the 21st century. Try to convince me of this as much as you like, but such a stable, unselfish and simply excellent player is very difficult to find. Duncan is a hard worker who does an enormous amount of work from game to game, from season to season, without requiring any attention and encouragement from the basketball community.

But it all started in the Virgin Islands, when young Tim, looking at his sister Trisha, who was a swimmer, wanted to follow in her footsteps. Duncan trained hard day after day and dreamed of taking part in the 1992 Olympic Games.

But his dream was not destined to come true. In 1989, Hurricane Hugo swept through the Caribbean and caused damage to many countries, including Tim Duncan's native Virgin Islands. And everything would be fine, but the same hurricane destroyed the only pool on the islands and Duncan now had nowhere to train.

You say - hey, if he lives on an island, then the ocean is around! Why shouldn't he train there? It's very simple - Duncan is terrified of sharks. That is why his swimming career ended so early.

At the age of 15, Duncan picks up a basketball for the first time and starts playing for the school team. And here is what his first coach said about Timmy:

Duncan was huge. He was big and tall, I haven't trained players like that for a long time. But despite all his dimensions - he was just terribly clumsy!

Gradually Tim began to improve, averaging 25 points in his senior year at school. His game has attracted a large number of universities and colleges from all over America. And Wake Forest offered the young player an athletic scholarship.

In college, Duncan begins to develop his usual playing style. Simple but effective. Duncan combined many aspects of the game, such as high-quality post play, open mid-range shots, and tough defense. It was this style that helped not only him, but also his team, to show good results in the NCAA.

Duncan, one of the few superstars (if not the only one) who spent all four years of college! All because he promised his mother, who died the day before Tim's 14th birthday, that he would graduate from college and get an education.

In the end, over 4 years in college, Tim was 97-31, scored over 2,000 points, 1,500 rebounds and 400 blocks and was automatically selected for the 1998 draft, where he was selected with the first pick of the San Antonio Spurs.

With the Spurs, Duncan first became David Robinson's assistant, then became a team leader himself for many years. San Antonio is a 15-year dynasty, just like the New England Patriots (as a fan of all Boston teams, I just had to compare the two franchises). And all this time, the main face of the team was Tim Duncan, the man who achieved everything in the NBA.

Yannis Antetokunmpo

When I started: 2007 (13 years old)

Statistics for the career: 12.2 + 6.6 + 2.9 + 1.1

Achiors: the most progressive player NBA, 2-Rap All-Star Team Member, 2nd NBA Team.

Giannis was born in Grezzi, in a family of Nigerian immigrants and until the age of 13 he played only football, having absolutely no idea what basketball is and who needs it at all.

Yannis and his family had a hard time, to put it mildly. There was a catastrophic lack of money, so he and his brother sold all sorts of trinkets, watches, bags on the streets, trying to somehow help their parents with finances. Well, after a hard day, Giannis and his brother went to the football field and chased the ball until late.

That was until 2007, when basketball appeared in the life of the young Antetokounmpo.

The young player fell in love with the game and started devoting all his free time to developing his basketball skills. And it paid off! Two years later, in 2009, Giannis starts playing for Fylatlitikos youth team.

In 2012, The Greek Freak made the main roster, spent a mid-season in the Greek League Two and entered the 2013 draft, where the Milwaukee Bucks nonetheless were selected.

Giannis' NBA career developed over three seasons. The coaching staff worked very competently here, which, as Antetokounmpo performed in the league, gradually loaded him with new baggage of knowledge and skills. Giannis soaked it all up like a sponge and as time went by, his minutes played and his role in the team increased.

Now Giannis is the future of basketball, the second LeBron, the man who can make the Eurostep from the three-point line. I'm afraid to imagine what will happen to this player in the future, because Giannis is only 23 years old! And he is already a franchise player and will progress in each next season.

Mark Eaton

Started: 1977 (21 years old)

Career stats: 6.0 + 7.9 + 1.0 9.0 + 1.00003

Achievements: 2x Defensive Player of the Year, All-Star, 4x Block Shot Leader, 3x Defensive Five.