Posted by nysportsfan11:
Personal issues aside, Steve lacked the mental capacity to be a great player. All he ever had was athleticism. He's for lack of a better word....stupid. It probably had a lot to do with the lack of organized ball and the fact that his athleticism blinded a lot of coaches who didn't bother to teach him. By the time he got to the League, doing it his way, he wasn't trying to be taught, thus the uncoachable label.
Guys like LeBron, KG, Kobe, Duncan....these guys will have careers for as long as they want them because they're intelligent ball players.
It's not about book smarts either. Jason Kidd would be considered mentally retarded if he were a regular citizen, no bull****. People really used to think he was a functional illiterate. He's taken some steps to rectify that as he's gotten older and wealthier, but he still won't be mistaken for a smart dude. But the guy knows basketball. He may be one of the most intelligent basketball minds to play in the NBA. Same with Magic. Come on, you saw the Magic Hour. But even still, if not for HIV, Magic might have played 20 years.
LeBron is a freak of nature, but he sees the game better than 95% of his opponents. Jordan was the same way. That's why Kareem played for so long. Look at Mark Jackson. Mark was NEVER athletic....ever in life. Troy (Escalade) had more hops and agility than him. That **** used to bug me out growing up and watching him play in Baisley or BRC....he just out-thought and outworked everyone.
The guys who rely solely on speed and athleticism to get by...guys that the Knicks collect like trading cards...will always have short careers that make you wonder what happened. Guys like Steph and Steve who used to be able to jump out of the gym and thought that was going to be there forever will be lucky to be employed next year. If not for ridiculous contracts, they'd have been journeymen just like all the other runner/jumpers back in the day.
You cannot be a "point guard" and have a long, Hall-of-Fame career based on athleticism. Even AI, who everyone tries to use to justify that horrible combo guard era, is widely regarded among coaches and players as one of the most intelligent guys in the game. It's like anything else in life...there must be substance behind style.
I nominate this post for one of the best posts in the history of UK. Awesome insight and 100% dead on with Francis/Marbury and the like.
The one thing I'll add to your argument is that guys like Francis/Marbury, they have always been so talented and so athletic (as you said) that when they were in high-school and college, they were the ones calling the shots, not being coached. They were coddled by their coaches and by their entourages and in the end neither one of them had the success that they should have had because of it.
High-School and College are the two places where you really LEARN to play the game and when you think you don't have anything to learn and can still play at a top level during these two times, it will kill goto your head and it will kill your chances of ever maturing into the basketball player you can be. Guys like Lebron and Kobe are so smart and so hard-working and so willing to learn that they can get by being so talented. Unfortunately for guys like Stevie and Steph, it's not the case, but what they do they care, they are multi-millionaires.
3/11/2008 3:53 PM