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I saw Le Bron James play for the first time a few nights ago. All the exit polls would say that we saw someone, at that age, who is playing the game of basketball better than anyone else could have thought. It made for a great week of talk show fodder discussing the issues that surround this kid and who will benefit the most. The list included him, his family, the NBA, the shoe company, his agent and I am sure we could list a few more.
I am sure that most of you are also aware that my brother, who is the top spokesman for Adidas, has been on countless TV and radio shows. I do not know if we can count "outside the lines" hosted by Bob Ley, as that broadcast turned out to be a personal jousting match between Billy Packer and Dick Vitale; Sonny did not even get enough air time to do a public service announcement.
Although my brother and I talk frequently, we very seldom talk about his business and he never talks about mine. If you listened between the lines of what he talked about and what Bill Walton talked about the night of the telecast, they summed it up pretty well.
This is not a new phenomena by highlighting the next star in his or her sport, it is simply just the way we do business in the new millennium.
Televising high school games regionally has been going on for years, but now it is a topic because a national cable outfit picked up the game, so it raises some concern. Walton said that if ESPN would have been as dominant when "MAGIC" came out of high school, you would have seen the same coverage as Le Bron is getting now. Although my brother and I disagree on more things than we agree on, I am on his side with this explanation: EXPLOITATION. One of the definitions in Webster's dictionary simply reads: "unfairly or cynically using another person or group for profit or advantage."
As Sonny has been saying, everything is out in the open and Le Bron and his mother have a good hold on the entire process. They already have a ballpark figure on what one of the shoe companies are willing to pay and they know, almost to the penny, what he will earn if he is selected first in the draft (which seems to be a given and the agents' percentage now is almost public knowledge).
As Sonny said: to "exploit" is to have the deal completely one-sided. People would have a legitimate argument, but this thing is, and will be, front-page news for a long time. My own personal take is that Le Bron, for the first time in a while, will get much more the best of it and here is why:
Obviously this is an important sign for the shoe company that gets him, and they will probably pay more just to get him. There is nothing like a bidding war when you are holding the aces. The NBA team that does draft him, even though they have some constraints, will give more than everything allowed by their cap just to make him happy (even thinking down the road to his second contract). Can you imagine if he is all everyone thinks he can be and you are the team that loses him? Remember Sam Bowie and Michael Jordan?
The agent who signs him will have to cut his percentage because they all want to get next to this kid. I cannot blame them, but Le Bron will get a good deal. So Sonny's point is: Le Bron and family will not get bushwhacked. I am also pretty sure that the school likes the attention and his teammates are enjoying it as well.
Yes a lot of people on the business end will do fine with this young man in their stable, so let the process play out and we can check back in a few years to see some results. I would bet the plus wins out. Watching him play also conjured up a lot of kids that I have seen that played in high school, and I was spurred on the following day as I listened to the Dan Patrick show. The guest again was Bill Walton and he is either going to conduct a poll or assemble a greatest high school player list (that he will announce sometime this year). The only criteria was that you had to have seen the player or players play in a live game before you make your choices.
I started following my brother around in the late 50's, back when Sonny was organizing teams to play in local or tri-state tournaments before the introduction of the Dapper Dan round-ball classic. One of the first tourneys my brother ever entered was in Sharon, Pennsylvania where the legendary Hoyle tournament was. It was almost what the Rucker tourney was like in the summer in New York, although this was in late winter.
Sonny's team played and got beat by a squad from New York. On that team was Roger Brown, who was a monster player with a great ABA career. The star, however, was Connie Hawkins who, if did not run into problems, would have been talked about in the same sentence as the Dr.; he was that good.
So I thought I would jot down my list of greatest high school players that I had seen play in live game conditions. Here goes:
"School Boy" Sonny Sunkett (Camden, New Jersey): This was the first time that I had ever seen a spin dribble on the dead gallop and never lose stride. He was the best defensive player that I truthfully ever saw. One time I watched him in a Christmas tourney in Johnstown PA and he was matched up against Schenley High School who, at that time, could match up against any high school teams from the famed De Matha team and most of the great city league teams from New York. They were as good as Pittsburgh has ever seen.
Although I have never witnessed it since, during the time-out he stood about 10 feet away from Schenley's huddle, but was on the court just staring into the huddle. At halftime he waited where the Schenley team would re-enter the court and, while everyone was warming up for the second half, simply stood at mid-court looking at his opposing point guard. He was staring at Petie Gibson, who was as good as it gets, and also on his team was future NBA player Maurice Lucas. Well, Camden won the game easy and in the paper the next day "School Boy" had simply said that he heard a lot about his counterpart. Sunkett told him that when both teams first come out on the floor, he was never going to leave him out of his sight. It worked as Gibson had a horrible game. I never found or heard of whatever happened to Sonny Sunkett. He surely could play at that level. Just a note: my brother thinks that "School Boy's" teammate, "Itchy" Smith, would rank as one of the best high schoolers he had seen, and he has seen more than me. "School Boy" and "Itchy": two classic nicknames on one team.
Adrian Dantley (De Matha High School): I saw him play a few times and was immediately taken in on how he used that wide lower body to take position on his opponent. Remember when you saw him backing down players in the NBA who were much taller than him? Believe me, the technique was developed at a young age. Back off and he would shove that 15 footer down your throat. He massaged the ball when shooting free throws almost identically throughout his whole career. He was as light on his feet as any player that I have ever seen, especially if you consider his body frame. Not all the time, but a lot of times, you just know these guys can play at any level and he sure was one. He was just an unbelievable player as a teenager and I am really glad that I got to see him play.
Mose Malone (Petersburgh, Virginia): No intros needed here as this kid was advertised from day one and never disappointed anyone. What made Sonny's round-ball game so special (going back over 30 years) was the dedication of those kids; they were in Pittsburgh for nearly an entire week preceding the game and practiced against each other for three days. The practices were legendary as literally every college coach was in the stands to watch the sessions (which were like watching a live game). The kids all knew of their own ability and, more importantly, almost instinctively wanted to see how they stacked up against the best of their peers. Well, my friends, the three days of practice was just a pre-cursor of the next twenty years.
Malone was one of the best in the game at out-positioning his man. Even then his opponent would have to reach around him or go over top to try and get the rebound. On the rare occasion when you were in position he had these great hands where he could tap the ball off the glass to keep it live until he re-established position. Then he got in front of you for either the board or the put back for a deuce. He was the first big man who ran the floor with small guys, never lagged behind, and shot the ball very well. He saved the best for last as he blocked a shot by Brad Davis, who played at Maryland and also in the NBA, to win the Dapper Dan game. Yeah, Brad was Pittsburgh guy. This kid was a spectacular youngster and I enjoyed watching him play.
Kenny Durrett (Schenley High School, Pittsburgh, PA): Without a doubt the greatest player the 'burg has ever given to the sport of basketball. Kenny was about 6'5" and could go either way with the ball: he could drive it past you or shoot over you, it made no difference to Kenny. I marveled at how easy everything was to him. It seemed as though he was never in a hurry, but always was the first one up the court. You know one of those guys who blocked the shot on one end and scored the basket at the other. He went on to play at La Salle. You old-timers know how good that league was in those days. La Salle - Villanova- Penn - St. Joe's and those marvelous doubleheaders at the Palestra.
Kenny injured his knee and, against doctor's advice, came back too quick to play in a game and re-injured his knee; he never fully recovered. Kenny passed away last spring but, as long as they play in the 'burg, "Doo-rett" will be the man.
Calvin Murphy (Norwalk, Conn.): He is the best that I have ever seen. I saw him do things in the 60's which were truly unheard of. One time a local TV station done a feature on him dunking the basketball with two hands which, in the process, had every living human in the Pittsburgh Civic Arena stopping and staring. By the way, I was standing next to Calvin at the time staring directly at him and I have never been 5'7" in my life. They did not use the term vertical leap at the time, but they sure could have. He was quick with the dribble and, if the 3-point shot was in effect, he would have averaged 10 more points a game as he was a deadly long-range shooter. I saw him play in the B'nai Brith tourney (I think the spelling is right) against top-notch competition and all he did was roll a 59 and 63 on consecutive nights to win MVP honors. Calvin Murphy was as tough as they come and is the best high school player I have ever seen.
High school basketball is a great sport and could get on the honorable mention list. I am sure you have a list of your own.
So, whatever you finally decide on the Le Bron James issue, remember that this has been going on for a long time, with the James' family tweaking this new way of doing business.
Take care,
Jimmy V
This article is courtesy of Don Best Sports, the industry leader in live lines service. Please visit our website at www.DonBest.com to get the latest odds, scores, lines, and sports information.
I am sure that most of you are also aware that my brother, who is the top spokesman for Adidas, has been on countless TV and radio shows. I do not know if we can count "outside the lines" hosted by Bob Ley, as that broadcast turned out to be a personal jousting match between Billy Packer and Dick Vitale; Sonny did not even get enough air time to do a public service announcement.
Although my brother and I talk frequently, we very seldom talk about his business and he never talks about mine. If you listened between the lines of what he talked about and what Bill Walton talked about the night of the telecast, they summed it up pretty well.
This is not a new phenomena by highlighting the next star in his or her sport, it is simply just the way we do business in the new millennium.
Televising high school games regionally has been going on for years, but now it is a topic because a national cable outfit picked up the game, so it raises some concern. Walton said that if ESPN would have been as dominant when "MAGIC" came out of high school, you would have seen the same coverage as Le Bron is getting now. Although my brother and I disagree on more things than we agree on, I am on his side with this explanation: EXPLOITATION. One of the definitions in Webster's dictionary simply reads: "unfairly or cynically using another person or group for profit or advantage."
As Sonny has been saying, everything is out in the open and Le Bron and his mother have a good hold on the entire process. They already have a ballpark figure on what one of the shoe companies are willing to pay and they know, almost to the penny, what he will earn if he is selected first in the draft (which seems to be a given and the agents' percentage now is almost public knowledge).
As Sonny said: to "exploit" is to have the deal completely one-sided. People would have a legitimate argument, but this thing is, and will be, front-page news for a long time. My own personal take is that Le Bron, for the first time in a while, will get much more the best of it and here is why:
Obviously this is an important sign for the shoe company that gets him, and they will probably pay more just to get him. There is nothing like a bidding war when you are holding the aces. The NBA team that does draft him, even though they have some constraints, will give more than everything allowed by their cap just to make him happy (even thinking down the road to his second contract). Can you imagine if he is all everyone thinks he can be and you are the team that loses him? Remember Sam Bowie and Michael Jordan?
The agent who signs him will have to cut his percentage because they all want to get next to this kid. I cannot blame them, but Le Bron will get a good deal. So Sonny's point is: Le Bron and family will not get bushwhacked. I am also pretty sure that the school likes the attention and his teammates are enjoying it as well.
Yes a lot of people on the business end will do fine with this young man in their stable, so let the process play out and we can check back in a few years to see some results. I would bet the plus wins out. Watching him play also conjured up a lot of kids that I have seen that played in high school, and I was spurred on the following day as I listened to the Dan Patrick show. The guest again was Bill Walton and he is either going to conduct a poll or assemble a greatest high school player list (that he will announce sometime this year). The only criteria was that you had to have seen the player or players play in a live game before you make your choices.
I started following my brother around in the late 50's, back when Sonny was organizing teams to play in local or tri-state tournaments before the introduction of the Dapper Dan round-ball classic. One of the first tourneys my brother ever entered was in Sharon, Pennsylvania where the legendary Hoyle tournament was. It was almost what the Rucker tourney was like in the summer in New York, although this was in late winter.
Sonny's team played and got beat by a squad from New York. On that team was Roger Brown, who was a monster player with a great ABA career. The star, however, was Connie Hawkins who, if did not run into problems, would have been talked about in the same sentence as the Dr.; he was that good.
So I thought I would jot down my list of greatest high school players that I had seen play in live game conditions. Here goes:
"School Boy" Sonny Sunkett (Camden, New Jersey): This was the first time that I had ever seen a spin dribble on the dead gallop and never lose stride. He was the best defensive player that I truthfully ever saw. One time I watched him in a Christmas tourney in Johnstown PA and he was matched up against Schenley High School who, at that time, could match up against any high school teams from the famed De Matha team and most of the great city league teams from New York. They were as good as Pittsburgh has ever seen.
Although I have never witnessed it since, during the time-out he stood about 10 feet away from Schenley's huddle, but was on the court just staring into the huddle. At halftime he waited where the Schenley team would re-enter the court and, while everyone was warming up for the second half, simply stood at mid-court looking at his opposing point guard. He was staring at Petie Gibson, who was as good as it gets, and also on his team was future NBA player Maurice Lucas. Well, Camden won the game easy and in the paper the next day "School Boy" had simply said that he heard a lot about his counterpart. Sunkett told him that when both teams first come out on the floor, he was never going to leave him out of his sight. It worked as Gibson had a horrible game. I never found or heard of whatever happened to Sonny Sunkett. He surely could play at that level. Just a note: my brother thinks that "School Boy's" teammate, "Itchy" Smith, would rank as one of the best high schoolers he had seen, and he has seen more than me. "School Boy" and "Itchy": two classic nicknames on one team.
Adrian Dantley (De Matha High School): I saw him play a few times and was immediately taken in on how he used that wide lower body to take position on his opponent. Remember when you saw him backing down players in the NBA who were much taller than him? Believe me, the technique was developed at a young age. Back off and he would shove that 15 footer down your throat. He massaged the ball when shooting free throws almost identically throughout his whole career. He was as light on his feet as any player that I have ever seen, especially if you consider his body frame. Not all the time, but a lot of times, you just know these guys can play at any level and he sure was one. He was just an unbelievable player as a teenager and I am really glad that I got to see him play.
Mose Malone (Petersburgh, Virginia): No intros needed here as this kid was advertised from day one and never disappointed anyone. What made Sonny's round-ball game so special (going back over 30 years) was the dedication of those kids; they were in Pittsburgh for nearly an entire week preceding the game and practiced against each other for three days. The practices were legendary as literally every college coach was in the stands to watch the sessions (which were like watching a live game). The kids all knew of their own ability and, more importantly, almost instinctively wanted to see how they stacked up against the best of their peers. Well, my friends, the three days of practice was just a pre-cursor of the next twenty years.
Malone was one of the best in the game at out-positioning his man. Even then his opponent would have to reach around him or go over top to try and get the rebound. On the rare occasion when you were in position he had these great hands where he could tap the ball off the glass to keep it live until he re-established position. Then he got in front of you for either the board or the put back for a deuce. He was the first big man who ran the floor with small guys, never lagged behind, and shot the ball very well. He saved the best for last as he blocked a shot by Brad Davis, who played at Maryland and also in the NBA, to win the Dapper Dan game. Yeah, Brad was Pittsburgh guy. This kid was a spectacular youngster and I enjoyed watching him play.
Kenny Durrett (Schenley High School, Pittsburgh, PA): Without a doubt the greatest player the 'burg has ever given to the sport of basketball. Kenny was about 6'5" and could go either way with the ball: he could drive it past you or shoot over you, it made no difference to Kenny. I marveled at how easy everything was to him. It seemed as though he was never in a hurry, but always was the first one up the court. You know one of those guys who blocked the shot on one end and scored the basket at the other. He went on to play at La Salle. You old-timers know how good that league was in those days. La Salle - Villanova- Penn - St. Joe's and those marvelous doubleheaders at the Palestra.
Kenny injured his knee and, against doctor's advice, came back too quick to play in a game and re-injured his knee; he never fully recovered. Kenny passed away last spring but, as long as they play in the 'burg, "Doo-rett" will be the man.
Calvin Murphy (Norwalk, Conn.): He is the best that I have ever seen. I saw him do things in the 60's which were truly unheard of. One time a local TV station done a feature on him dunking the basketball with two hands which, in the process, had every living human in the Pittsburgh Civic Arena stopping and staring. By the way, I was standing next to Calvin at the time staring directly at him and I have never been 5'7" in my life. They did not use the term vertical leap at the time, but they sure could have. He was quick with the dribble and, if the 3-point shot was in effect, he would have averaged 10 more points a game as he was a deadly long-range shooter. I saw him play in the B'nai Brith tourney (I think the spelling is right) against top-notch competition and all he did was roll a 59 and 63 on consecutive nights to win MVP honors. Calvin Murphy was as tough as they come and is the best high school player I have ever seen.
High school basketball is a great sport and could get on the honorable mention list. I am sure you have a list of your own.
So, whatever you finally decide on the Le Bron James issue, remember that this has been going on for a long time, with the James' family tweaking this new way of doing business.
Take care,
Jimmy V
This article is courtesy of Don Best Sports, the industry leader in live lines service. Please visit our website at www.DonBest.com to get the latest odds, scores, lines, and sports information.