Making the jump from the college ranks to the pro level isn’t an easy adjustment for any athlete. For NBA rookies, much like the NFL, there isn’t a well-established minor league system devoted to developing multiple prospects at a time.
Yes, there’s the G League — whereas the NFL doesn’t have anything — but it’s a little different from the MLB and NHL lower levels. It’s still growing. There’s definitely potential. And there’s definitely a need.
The minor league levels present adversity, but the jump in competition from college to the top level of a given sport is a tall order on its own, never mind everything else being a professional athlete entails
Oklahoma City Thunder Darius Bazley is fully aware of this. Having someone like LeBron James to help him along the way — both are represented by Rich Paul — helped him significantly. But he also explained to Nick Friedell of ESPN how his internship at New Balance in Boston had a significant impact on his growth as a person.
The main thing I really took away from that is just learning how to be professional. That was my first job ever so having to go into work and being in an office space with a lot of middle-aged people — you got to learn to be professional. You got to learn to communicate with different people.
Between his experience and the words of wisdom he received along the way, the No. 23 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft is confident he can deal with whatever the NBA throws his way.
There’s going to be times where you hit a roadblock in the league where you’re not getting the minutes you wanted or say you’re injured and you’re not able to play and you don’t know how to handle that. I do.
