Original subtitles

What was that, wind? Or it's raining?

[LeBron] The A/C unit, I think.

'Cause it was snowing a little bit today, right?

I lived in Dallas. It's the same.

They say in Texas, you don't like the weather, come back tomorrow.

-True. -[Steve] Big difference.

It's gonna be totally different tomorrow.

[bluesy theme playing]

Welcome back to Mind the Game,

brought to you by Uninterrupted and Wondery.

This is another conversation with Luka Dončić,

centered around the study he commissioned through his foundation,

called Inside Youth Basketball.

Stick around till the end of the episode,

where I'll talk a little bit more about why I'm on Luka's athletes' council,

why it's important to me,

and how we can all help improve the landscape of youth basketball.

Learn as much as you can, just as I have,

and enjoy this episode of Mind the Game.

[bluesy theme resumes]

You know, one of the things nowadays is that it's an arms race.

"My kids got to get ahead," you know?

It's like we saw Tiger Woods with a perfect swing on Johnny Carson

at 2 years old, and we think that every kid's got to be great,

you know, early.

I started playing at 13.

I didn't get into the league till I was 22.

Wasn't really great or a good player until late 20s.

Bullshit, but okay. It's okay.

[Steve] But you know what I mean, though?

I feel like the pressure on the parents

is that your kid's got to be an early adopter.

They got to be better early when really, like, we all develop at our own rate.

-You can still be great. -That's social media too.

Because you're seeing everything right now.

You're seeing everything over there.

When we were growing up, our parents didn't know

if this kid had a trainer or if this kid was doing…

-You didn't really see that shit. -Yes.

Our parents only knew that, okay, "You want to play soccer?

Okay, cool. You want to play football? Okay, cool.

You want to do something else, or you don't want to? Relax."

It was not like, we have to…

We see this kid, he's being trained five days a week.

Well, if my kid's not being trained five days a week, he's not gonna make it.

-Right. -It wasn't… We didn't see that.

And now it not the kid's journey. It's the parent's journey.

Whereas when you were growing up, you were thinking,

"Randy keeps pushing me left. I hate that."

-Yeah. -"I'm gonna learn to go left." Right?

And now it's just you and him know that we're in this little battle

every day all summer

instead of it's on social media, parents are talking about a coach.

It's like this high-performance thing.

I'd love to know from you what the transition was.

So, you played a lot of informal basketball growing up.

Other sports. You're on the playground, outside school.

What was it like when you went to Madrid? Thirteen years old?

-Thirteen, yeah. -[Steve] Real Madrid.

It was a difficult decision, honestly.

First, I didn't know the language yet.

I know a little bit. Just like, "Hello, how are you?"

Uh, but then nobody spoke my language.

I was learning a little bit of English, so I knew a little bit.

Uh, but it was hard.

So that's basically then when almost everything moved to basketball.

I was playing a little bit of soccer because I used to go with the players,

with their soccer players.

We went to the same school, so we used to play a little bit.

But they were soccer players, so I couldn't do nothing.

-Sure. -Uh, but it was a lot, you know?

I think first two, three months, I almost didn't spoke to anybody.

You know, but that's how I learned Spanish so quickly.

And after that, it was an amazing journey, man.

It was something that changed my life for better.

How long was you in Madrid for?

Seven years.

That's amazing. That's incredible.

-Six years. -[Steve] Thirteen to 19?

-Yeah. -That's incredible.

Six years. And how… What was the structure like in Madrid?

So you go there as 13 years old.

You're in a dorm? You're with a family?

Yeah, no, it was a dorm my first three years.

They were building a new dorm. We were in the dorm of the school.

So, it was three people per room. It was very small.

-Don't speak Spanish. -Don't speak Spanish.

I had a Brazilian guy, I think.

Can't remember.

I can't remember who I was with because we always changed.

But first, it was cool. So…

First three years, but then we went to a nice…

Then Real Madrid built its own dorm.

It was super nice. It was like living at a hotel, so…

-[Steve] Nice. -That was different.

And how was the day?

Like, did you go to practice, then school? Or school, then practice?

-What was the day like? -Yeah, we started at 7:30.

Something like that, to 8:30 we had practice.

And then from 9:15 to 5:30 was school.

-9:15 to 5:30? -[Luka] Yeah.

No wonder you're so smart.

[laughs] Thank you. Appreciate that.

-[all laugh] -And then from 6:00 to 9:00 was practice.

-6:00 to 9:00? -Yes.

On Wednesday, we didn't have practice, but every other day.

And then Saturday, Sunday games.

Mm.

Well, that's a good point because, you know,

I feel like here-- and you can attest this, LeBron--

it's like, we play a lot of games.

-Yeah, it's different than you. -Yeah.

Explain the difference.

I think the AAU stuff has gotten where's it's showcase, showcase, showcase,

game, game, game.

Whereas it feels like… I mean, I don't think Real Madrid's

unique in this way, that in Europe in general,

you're practicing more than you're playing.

-Can you talk a little bit about that? -I would still say Real Madrid is unique.

Okay, no offense. Madrid is Madrid. It's great.

Okay, we get it, we get it.

But I think in Slovenia, you're not playing five games a week.

I think the whole Europe is the same.

We didn't play that much… Same, on the weekends it's the only game.

Two, maybe even one.

So it was a lot of practice.

But I love practices, you know.

We had a lot of…

skill set first, but that was like…

That was like half an hour, 45 minutes.

-Fundamentals. -[LeBron] Skills.

Just to warm up and then… and then we would play.

We'd play, but that's a lot of different exercise playing.

It's not just five on five, three on three.

It's an advantage, four on three, two on three.

-It's just… -[Steve] Learning to read.

Learning to react. Like, that was an emphasis in Europe.

That's the biggest difference between youth basketball

in Europe and in America,

is that it's the development skill,

the fundamentals are not expressed.

It's like, just play, play, play.

Just play. Just play, you know,

and a lot of guys and a lot of kids are not developing their skill.

They're not developing the fundamentals.

You know, like he just said, there was times during practice

that it was all about, you know, advantage basketball.

Four on three, three on two.

You know, if I can create two on the ball,

then I know we have a numbers advantage.

You know, instead of reading the game that way,

a lot of kids think, you know, when we grew up,

if I have two on the ball, then I have to figure out a way

how to get around this guy or split the double team.

You know, I still have to be able to score.

-You know, and… -Really.

…that just… it just stops you from reading the game.

-Yep. -You know?

And you can make it through grade school playing that way.

You can make it through high school. You can make it through college.

And some guys figure out a way to even make it through the NBA.

But as far as how to be great, to be great and transcendent,

and being able to, um, inspire your teammates.

Inspire yourself, inspire your family, inspire the game.

You know, being able to be on that wavelength.

And I think that's the kind of different…

You know, the difference between how they grew up in Europe teaching the game,

and how we teach the game here.

I think it's a lost, um… It's a lost arc here.

It goes back, you know, a little bit to your point

about this competitive pressurized system.

It's about the kid showing how good he is

instead of making the right plays, making the game simple.

Something you guys have done naturally.

And it's probably not all natural.

You've learned because you had good coaching to make the right play.

You can make a spectacular play, but make the right play

more times than not, you know?

They're gonna put two on you guys.

And if you go against the two all the time,

you're not only gonna have success, you're gonna make the right decision.

You empower your teammates, make them feel better, make the game easier.

Feels like that's different in Europe

'cause coaches aren't all about this kid's gonna raise my profile.

Our team has got to learn to play together.

Did you feel that in Madrid where it's about,

of course we want to develop Luka,

but we want to develop a team that knows how to play the right way?

Yeah, definitely, especially when I was, say about 15,

I had a coach that was hard on me,

but hard on everybody.

Like, from one to 12, he did the same thing to everybody.

It wasn't, like, just one person.

So that's really when I started to playing, like…

When I was 15, I started my first practices with the first team.

You know, I was…

I was scared. I was nervous.

But at some point, you get used to it.

So I debuted when I was 16.

I was shaking.

I still remember the moment.

But, you know,

I think in Europe, like, watching EuroLeague now,

watching the league before, it just, like…

It's more about the team, you know.

Team-wise, teamwork.

But it's different rules in the NBA.

I always said that.

When I said it's easier to score in the NBA,

it's because it's just different rules.

You have a lot of more spacing, you have more minutes.

It's eight more minutes. Anything happens in eight minutes.

It's just because of that.

In Europe, you get a big guy, like, for example, Edy Tavares.

He plays in Madrid.

He just standing in the paint. He can stay in the paint. He's 220.

It's hard to score. It's impossible.

Here, you can't do that because it's three-second violation.

Yeah. Again, I mean, the NBA's trying to make it as entertaining as possible,

so the game's slightly different than in Europe

where maybe the roots of the game are still there.

Um, but it is an interesting point

to think about the way our kids grow up learning the game.

The culture around the game. And that difference is really important.

I think you see it so often, you know, just the thought process.

And, unfortunately, I think there's something to be said for that

creeping into the system and the parents too.

Right? They're worried about their kids' position here.

Let me make a comment that I have to take some part of this too.

But my generation of parents, being 51 now,

you know, the last kind of 20, 25 years of parenting,

we've been all over our kids, trying to protect them.

You just mentioned you had a coach that was all over you.

You know, my high school coach, college coach,

all my coaches were all over me.

Your high school coach was on you. Like, he's not putting up with, you know,

poor decisions, not playing the right way.

That has become so hard nowadays

because the commercialization.

So, whether it's a skills trainer, an AAU coach,

you can't… you don't feel, one, that your business can suffer losing the kid.

So, you know, there's not…

It's not as frequent we're gonna tell the kid the truth and be tough on them.

Because you're afraid they're gonna leave.

-And in college too. -Yeah, for sure.

-And now for money. -Right.

You've been on the street for a few more bucks.

-But at some point, I think you need that. -You got to have it.

Or I'll say it's a disservice to our kids

because we have to let them suffer and struggle and feel that pressure.

That's gonna make you better,

not the pressure that's gonna make you not love the sport.

I've never got involved with my kids' coaches.

-[Steve] That's for them. -You know, from Bronny growing up

to where he is now, and Bryce on his way to Tucson.

To Arizona.

I've never got involved.

I've never went to a practice and sat through practice the whole time

and see how my son was being utilized.

I've never got on the phone with the coaches.

Listen, he's there to coach my son. Coach him however you want to.

And I think you need to hold him accountable.

I hope you hold him more accountable than any other kid here

and say what the fuck you need to say, no matter…

no matter how it's being said, because it's not…

If you could just take the message, not about how he said it.

Just take the message out of it.

You know, I think that builds character as well.

You know, I think it's part of the reason why they are

where they are at their stages in their lives.

Um, you know, babying your kid and always, you know, thinking

that your kid is this and thinking your kid is that,

and not allowing coaches to coach them,

or not allowing people to be hard on them,

and as soon as a coach or someone says something to them, you pull them

and go somewhere else,

or as soon as someone says something bad about your kid,

you're the first person to go talk in his face.

It's like, you fucking go coach 'em, then. Like, you know?

It's like… really, life is way more noes than yes.

-[laughs] -If our kids aren't used to hearing no,

like, how are they gonna survive when they're adults?

I think that's… As parents, my generation of parents,

putting myself in this picture, we're so scared to let our kids fail.

Let 'em struggle, let 'em learn from that failure.

Now how do they face moments of adversity, resilience?

How do they build those scars?

So I think all three of us were fortunate.

Like, it changed… Like, it was pivotal in my journey

that my college coach was on my ass every day.

-I was gonna say the same. -Yeah?

And, in particular, that coach, when you were 15,

was one of the main ones that was…

Like, give me examples.

'Cause I don't think kids today understand.

They're gonna say, "I'm sure Luka's coach never yelled at him."

Yeah, no, he did.

Uh, I think one example is, we were up…

It was quarterfinals around 16.

We were up by 30 at halftime, and I was bullshitting a little bit.

No.

He yelled at me. He made me cry.

-At halftime? -Yeah.

And… But, like…

This coach, like, changed a little bit of how I view basketball.

Like, during the time.

Like, that year, I think, we didn't lose a game.

And we won in the finals by 30 points.

Just, I mean, I think everybody needs to be, like,

a really good player, you need the guy that'll tell you everything.

Especially a coach, you know.

I love him for that, that he did that for me.

I mean, especially you two guys come into the NBA straight.

I mean, you're coming from a professional team, but as a teenager.

You're not going to college.

Like, that experience was pivotal for me.

So, you're lucky, right? You had a high school coach what was like…

-…this is how you're gonna play. -Absolutely.

He was on my ass from day one. And I had a…

My high school coach was a college coach at Eastern Michigan at one point.

And, um, so…

-He know what you were gonna see. -Yeah.

So he knew what I was gonna see. He actually coached a couple pros

that made it to the NBA while he was in college.

But, you know, from day one when I stepped foot, you know,

as a freshman, he was literally, like, on me crazy.

You know, and, like, one story…

You know, Coach D was out of his mind. He was a lunatic.

He just finally retired from coaching last year at Duquesne.

Finally retired.

But, you know, my freshman year, I made all county, all city, all state.

Um, we didn't lose a game my freshman year.

Um, we won the state championship. I was, um…

state championship MVP for the tournament.

And, um…

You know, so I come in, first practice my sophomore year,

I'm kind of feeling myself a little bit.

We won it all, I'm getting a little crazy, whatever.

First day of practice my sophomore year, he kicked me out of practice.

-Just to put the marker down. -Yeah.

He looked at me and said, "Best sophomore in the country, my ass.

Get the fuck out of here."

And kicked me out of practice my sophomore year.

You know, and I was obviously pissed off. Like, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Why is he picking on me?"

But he set the tone for that season.

It's like, I'm not gonna even allow you

to even think about getting overly confident

or having a big head coming in here.

'Cause this shit is not about you.

It's about what we're trying to build.

And he knew, like, "You are the guy,

but I'm not about to give you no indication that you are."

You know, and still, a lot of the things that I learned from him,

I still just use to this day.

Just, like, being held accountable and being a player's coach,

being able to be coachable.

You know, and so absolutely.

-Just having that tough love. -He gave you a gift that day.

-Absolutely. -You don't realize it at the moment.

Yeah, I mean, you know how many practices we've been in?

And for us to be able to remember two moments in our careers,

you know, that let you know that shit is instilled in our brain,

and it played a part of who we are today.

And unfortunately, you know, going back to this again,

like, how many parents are allowing that these days?

-Yeah. -That's the tough part.

How was your dad with you? Being a great player in EuroLeague.

Like, what was his part of your basketball journey?

I don't think… he didn't get involved like he say…

There's a great lesson.

…like he said, with his kids, he didn't talk to the coach, nothing.

He was just, you know, being there to support.

But didn't do much, like what I'm saying, being involved.

That's your journey, right? It's the same, like…

You know, if I went home and told my dad, you know,

"Coach motherfucked me today…"

Oh, he would be, "Good for him."

Yeah, my dad would have said to me, "What'd you do, you little shit?"

-[all laugh] -You must have done something, right?

Let's you go and figure those things out.

Yeah, I think it's, um…

Look, it's not like we're gonna put it all back in the bottle.

Right? But things like your program can help just make headway.

I think it's awesome. Step-by-step. Baby steps.

Continue to just make a little influence on the way we think about it.

And I do think… I keep bringing up the parents,

but I do think we have to help educate parents

'cause a lot of 'em don't know.

How would they know?

They're told, "You got to sign them up for this, that.

They got to be with me all year round."

You know, they don't understand, let the kid run his own, her own race.

Let them figure it out, find the joy and passion on their own,

all those things that are so important.

I think that your program is giving us the chance to…

One, you committed money and resources through your foundation

to commission a study.

Like, it's not just us three talking.

Hopefully, we know a few things through our experiences,

but you commissioned a study.

That's an amazing, amazing commitment to the landscape, right?

-Congrats. -Yeah. Really congrats.

-You're involved as well, right? -I'm here to help.

-That's pretty cool. -We'll be calling you too.

You know, I got a couple ideas.

I bet you do. I bet you do.

-I mean, we've seen it firsthand already. -For sure.

Let's do it.

[bluesy theme playing]

But going back to, like, in Europe and Madrid,

they're teaching you to play and think through the prism of team game.

Making the right decisions.

You know, our kids are a little bit corrupted,

partly by social media…

that it's about his bag.

-His bag. -He's got this. What can he do here?

-What does it even mean, having a bag? -[Steve] Bag of tricks.

But think about it.

Like, you guys both made some…

You made a couple, tonight, crazy shots.

You made a couple tough fadeaways tonight.

But the reason you guys are great players

is 'cause most of the time, you can do the easy shit.

Get to the rim, finish, make your free throws,

make your open threes.

Okay, then you get to the step back, boom.

The game is won on making fundamental plays, not your bag, right?

I know they don't talk about that in Europe when you were growing up.

No, I never heard the thing, "bag," till I came to the NBA.

And when I was growing up, it wasn't talked about.

My… The least amount of dribbles to get where you need to get to…

Angles. Efficiency.

Michael Jordan wasn't out there dribbling a thousand times to get to the spot.

He'd get to a spot and raise.

You know, Isaiah Thomas, as great of a handle Isaiah Thomas had,

Isaiah'd get to a spot and raise.

You know, all these guys that I grew up… Grant Hill, get to a spot.

I'm bigger than you. "Big Dog" Robinson, you know?

I'm bigger than you. Allan Houston.

You know, all these great players that I grew up watching and admiring.

Penny Hardaway, yes, they could dribble the basketball,

but there's no… Tracy McGrady.

Even as great as Tracy's handle was,

it was, "I'm bigger than you,

I'm gonna get to the spot in the least amount of dribbles."

Kevin Garnett, you know?

-Good footwork, get it up over the top. -Just good footwork, get over the top.

If I'm bigger than you and get you on my shoulder,

I get you on my hip, I'm gonna use my size, you know?

I see it all the time.

I'll be on social media, like, "LeBron has no bag."

-It's like, I'm sitting over here… -What is that?

"LeBron has no bag."

And I'm sitting here, like, at 50 billion points.

Leading scorer of all time in the NBA, no bag.

Just… that proves the point.

Yes, just play the game the right way.

And I hope that our generation, you know, our younger generation,

don't get, you know, swamped by saying,

"Okay, I need a bag, I need a bag."

You know, work on your game.

Know what you're gonna be good at in order to help the team,

improve the next year to be a better player.

If you come in as a guy that's, "My offensive game is not developed,"

you come in, you defend, you get extra possessions.

You get extra rebounders for the guys.

Okay, and then next year you work on your game in the off-season.

It's only one or two…

If you want to… Three guys maximum

that's gonna be handling the fucking ball anyways.

-Right. -We don't need you to have a bag.

There's only gonna be… We have the luxury of having three guys--

you know, us two and A.R.-- but not many teams have three guys

that's gonna be handling the ball like that anyways.

You know, you can make $200 million in the NBA

if you defend and shoot a corner three-pointer.

That's it, you're gonna play.

But that's the biggest point, and I'd love to hear your perspective on this.

But, like, all the time you're doing this

that you're never gonna use as the levels go up,

if you can just make open shots, space the floor,

play smart, you can go up a level.

Yeah, I mean, 100%.

I mean, like he said. I don't have nothing more to add.

-Yeah, well, but that's the thing. -But it's true, yeah.

But the thing is, like, you know, you guys are creators.

You know, in the way the game is played today,

we put shooters on the floor to create space for the creator.

They make you better by creating space,

you make them better by being a creator.

The minute of them starts doing this, they're going out of the game.

Right? So, that's interesting the way we perceive,

or we allow our kids to perceive that.

I don't know where that…

Why that has been able to have a louder voice than coaching,

than fundamentals, than team play.

-Right. -You know.

One more important thing is, like, for guys, know your role.

Know what you do good and do that.

Don't do something that you're not good at.

-It's not gonna help. -It's gonna expose you.

Such an important part of winning teams is knowing your role, right?

Starting at your role, being able to be good at your role, right?

When guys start to have the wrong perspective on their role,

play outside themselves, the team is going down the other way.

How do we get kids to appreciate the fundamentals

rather than the highlight reels, the mix tapes?

-You have to teach them. -Talk.

It has to be teach.

I think that's a great word.

You know, I think, unfortunately, there's not enough teaching.

-There's not enough teachers. -Right.

Not enough teachers. Great point.

It's hard to teach if the teachers don't know what the hell they're teaching.

It's now more about scheduling tournaments and games.

To learn.

I mean, you want to learn, there's a lot of games here.

-[Steve] A lot of games. -Play a lot of games, less practice.

[Steve] Yeah.

But in the end, like, the greatest players come from America,

so they're doing something good.

Well, let's talk about that for a second

because you can make a case that, of the top players in the league,

there's got to be five of the top five to ten are from Europe.

-Correct. -Now.

-[Steve] Now, right. -Yeah.

But why? I think what we're talking about plays a role in this.

You know, I'll make a statement that'll probably be aggregated,

and I'll be a meme for this.

But America's not great at player development.

I'm not saying there's not great coaches here.

But not enough.

I think one of the problems with America, in all sports,

to defend America, is it's too big.

There's no one way, there's no one system.

There's no one idea, we're all competing.

And I think that's allowed the commercialization

to kind of influence the game.

That's a good point.

-Like, think about… -Ain't getting no smaller.

It's not getting smaller.

Well, it might right now, but that's another topic.

[laughs]

But, like, Slovenia, too many people win the EuroCup.

Like, that's crazy to think about, right?

But that's because it was fundamentals, it was team play.

Like, you guys could say… You were what, 18, 17?

-Eighteen. -Eighteen?

You could say, okay, well, we didn't know that Luka was Luka completely yet.

Maybe going to that tournament, we knew you were gonna be an NBA player.

We didn't know you were gonna be what you are.

You kind of announced…

-I didn't know either. -[Steve] Yeah.

But you announced yourself there and at Madrid and the EuroLeague.

But the teamwork, two million people. You see it all over the world.

I think sometimes we forget, like, America's so big.

So many opinions, so many regions.

-It's also a pride thing too. -Great point.

When you live in Slovenia, you're livin' in some of these countries

that's not as big as American cities.

It's a sense of pride to be able to go out there and represent your country.

You know, everything is city-based here.

You know, and it took a while for us as far as the Olympics

to get that sense of pride back, you know?

You know, we got our ass kicked in 2004,

and then we lost in the World Championship in 2006.

It took us time to be, like, "Oh, this is real."

The rest of these countries not only are getting better with basketball,

but it's a sense of pride too,

you know, and when you have that sense of pride,

you have a sense of work ethic that goes a lot longer,

you have a sense of accountability that's a little bit longer,

you have a sense of just wanting to be there

because you know what you're representing.

And I think a lot of that has to do with it too because they're just cities.

It's like America, but everybody's talking about, "Where you from?"

-"I'm from Chicago, Houston, LA." -Nobody says "America."

Yeah, everyone says the city they're from.

You know, and it's country-based all over the world,

and it's a sense of pride.

And you see that.

I've obviously been a part of four USA teams.

And then you see that, you feel that.

You know, you actually really feel it.

You feel it from not only the competition on the floor,

but you feel it from the fucking chants of the fans in the crowd.

-Passion of the crowd. -How passionate it is, you know?

That's why I play every year.

But that's an interesting point about the cities,

is that you see, like, if it's not…

If there's a way out,

that's a way out for a lot of American players.

"Oh, someone else can play." You can't not play for Slovenia, right?

Like, you all feel like we got to play because we're all we have.

True.

Tell me about that feeling, though, and the connection with the fans.

Because I went back for Goran Dragić's retirement game.

Sold out in, like, five minutes, two minutes.

I mean, we had some great names coming, so…

-[Steve] That's true. -Like Steve Nash.

[laughs]

But still, like, for…

You know, a country that size, it's got to be a…

There's a connection.

There's a way of, we have to play this way.

-We need all our guys. -Yeah.

I mean, that's why I was playing,

because of pride and I like to represent my country.

But you see, you know, there's…

My country lives for sports.

There's a lot of…

For how small we are, I think we have great sports people.

-[Steve] Unreal. -Bicyclists.

-We have ski jumpers. -[Steve] Pogačar.

-How? -How do you say Pogačar?

Pogačar. You were close.

How many Tours de France has he won?

Oh, I don't know. A lot, probably.

He's won a few.

You got NBA, you got soccer, you got ski jumpers, everything.

For two million people, it's incredible.

It's a lot, but that's when, like, the crowd is into it, you know?

I think we give back a lot to our country,

so that's why the crowd and the people are really into sports.

[LeBron] That's awesome.

Well, I want to salute you on this incredible Inside Youth Basketball study.

-Thank you. -I'm happy to be along for the journey.

-Let's cheers to that. -Impact.

-Cheers to that. Congratulations. -Thank you.

-Cheers to our youth, to our kids. -Thank you for having me.

[bluesy theme playing]

I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Luka Dončić.

Being a part of his athletes' council for his Inside Youth Basketball study

has been a pleasure for me.

It's something near and dear to my heart.

As someone that fought his way all the way

through a long career of basketball,

it always fascinates me

the landscape that kids have to navigate.

How can we help them reach for their dreams?

Of course, not all kids are gonna make the NBA,

but in all sports, kids should have joy,

passion, support, belief,

systems that allow them to learn the characteristics of teamwork,

collaboration, learning how to succeed, fail,

growing up at the appropriate times,

resilience.

There's so many things that sport affords us.

And when his study came out and other studies similar

that have said that 70% of kids

have quit sports by the time of 13

because there's too much pressure in the system.

There's not enough joy or fun,

not enough childhood involved in youth sports.

It's alarming, and it's something that I feel very passionate about,

not just from the athlete development component,

but from developing the health and wellness of our kids in our communities.

Sports is such an incredible tool that offers us a place to learn,

to grow, to find out who we are,

to make friends, teammates, to collaborate--

so many gifts that allow us to succeed in life,

whether it's with our families, with our careers, jobs,

dealing and navigating with the adversity that we all find in life.

These are all things that can really be developed through sport.

So when I hear kids are quitting sport, you know, I think it's important for us

to really dig deep and find out why kids are quitting,

and why sport for life is not the goal here,

where joy and passion and being able to enjoy

the fruits of a childhood being active, being healthy,

being a teammate, having core memories around sport

is so important to our communities, to our families, to our kids.

So, I feel honored, one, to have spoken to Luka deeply

about why he commissioned this study,

why he wants to affect youth basketball the way he does,

and how we can all come together and learn,

share best practices,

and find a way to be more efficient and effective

at helping our youth enjoy sports,

whether you're a high performer or whether you're just participating

and want to be a part of a team or learn a skill.

So important for our communities to give our kids a place to learn,

to grow, to fail, to bounce back,

and to ultimately succeed in life.

So thank you for watching Mind the Game. I hope you enjoyed this episode.

Please subscribe if you haven't. Look forward to seeing you next time.

Absolutely. Get him on up out of here.

-What you doing next week? -Get him up out of here.

-Get him-- get him up out of here. -I'm playing.

Um, sound guy, get his mic. Let him get him up out of here.