NBA teaches life lessons to rookies

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NBA teaches life lessons to rookies

59 first-year players learn social skills, nutrition in orientation


ASSOCIATED PRESS

TARRYTOWN, N.Y., Sept. 24 b The setting is a restaurant, where an actor
portraying a pro basketball player dines with his girlfriend. Theybre
discussing a
house they were going to buy until the deal fell through.

THE YOUNG MAN GRADUALLY loses his temper. Becoming verbally abusive and
belligerent, he rises from his chair and makes a scene.
       bLet it go, honey,b she tells him. bYelling doesnbt solve
anything.
Donbt embarrass me.b
       bOh, Ibm embarrassing you now?b he shouts back before storming
out
and ordering her to come with him. She dutifully complies.
       The skit, designed to help NBA rookies learn about relationships, was
performed Tuesday before an audience of more than 50 incoming players as part
of the leaguebs six-day rookie transition program.

 bThat whole scenario is just one element of what we try to do,b said Mike
Bantom, the NBAbs senior vice president of player development.
       The program also includes career-building sessions on everything from
check writing to making proper introductions b skills that will help rookies
represent the league responsibly.
       Attendance is mandatory for all incoming players b just as it has
been
since 1986 b in a league where the off-court troubles of Kobe Bryant
dominated summer headlines. The class included everyone from superhyped high
school
star LeBron James to Luke Walton, son of Hall of Famer Bill.
       During the skits performed by the theater company Zinc, director Zach
Minor periodically interrupts and passes a microphone to players, asking for
their thoughts on the drama unfolding.
       The 59 players gathered in a conference room whistle at the actresses,
add their own comments to the scripted innuendo and basically act like boys
among boys, which is not far removed from what they are. Fifteen in the group
are under 21.
     One player comments that the couple on stage donbt act like theybre
committed to a 50-50 partnership. But another says the woman seemed ideal b
she
knew her place, didnbt challenge her upbraiding and acted perfectly
compliant
to somebody superior to her. (The playersb names cannot be used under an
agreement which granted reporters access to the program for the first time.)
       At a table in the rear, several NBA officials b many of them veterans
now working in player development jobs b shook their heads.
       bThose are the types of attitudes that come out of adolescents, and
some of these players have to adjust their maturity levels,b Minor said.
bOur
challenge is to raise those skills to the genius level of their athletic
skills.
b
       The average NBA salary last season was $4.9 million, but the majority
of the players at rookie orientation will earn less than $1 million in their
first season. Learning how to manage that money is another key aspect of the
program.
       The actors also perform skits involving financial planning, crimes and
weapons possession laws. Minor uses the playersb responses to drive home a
three-word mantra: bChoices. Decisions. Consequences.b
       The players b 51 rookies and eight second-year players who missed
orientation a year ago b must attend 53 hours of training sessions.
       Other topics include social skills, nutrition, stress and anger
management, and how to deal with coaches, referees and veterans. Speakers make
the
rookies aware of the leaguebs resource network in every city, with
counselors
available to anyone who reaches out.
       Minor says handling personal relationships could be the biggest
challenge young players will face.
       bYoung wealthy basketball players that are superstars and are coveted
by society, not only do they have sort of an out-of-this-world perception of
their self-worth, theybd almost be better off not even considering marriage
until theybre 30 or 35,b said Tim McCormick, the playersb unionbs
regional
director of player programs. bWhen you make these decisions at age 20 or 25,
itbs
nearly impossible.
       bHow will they know whether the person theybre building a
relationship with is there because of love or money?b
       Later in the skit, the player arrives home after a game and finds his
girlfriend waiting. An argument quickly escalates, and the woman says itbs
time for the relationship to end.
       The players in the audience laugh as the actor asks the actress: bYou
want me to call you a taxi?b
       But the mirth quickly subsides when the woman answers: bI want the
houseb b explaining how she needs to sort out the legal details and be
adequately compensated in accordance with the common-law rules of their home
state.
       Minor stops the scene and explains that some states consider a couple
legally married if they live together long enough. The length varies by state,
and the players are stunned to hear that the legal standard can be less than
one year.
       bWhich state?b they ask in unison.
       A voice pipes in from the back of the room.
       It belongs to 41-year-old McCormick, who spent eight seasons in the
NBA. He tells the players that 80 percent of athlete marriages end in divorce
b
often because of the immature attitudes many of them have about
relationships.
       bYou donbt find a wife by picking the hottest babe at the bar. You
want to find someone with whom you have mutual intere Later in the day, the
rookies broke into smaller group counseling sessions to discuss the seminars.
Positive feedback was reinforced; Neanderthal comments were repudiated.
       bWe saw widely varying levels of understanding of whatbs good in a
relationship, and the reason we have so many breakout sessions is so things
like
that donbt go unaddressed,b Bantom said.
sts, someone you can grow a relationship with and it can be an equal
partnership,b McCormick said.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/971427.asp



TAM