New York Times

 

You ever read something that makes you feel dirty? Peep this. No shots at the writer but reading about blood thirsty parents pimping out their kids, or other people’s kids, makes me want to throw up in my mouth.

 

The NY Times Magazine feature on sixth grade basketball “prodigy”, Allonzo “Zo” Trier made me gag. Seriously. The more I read, the more I wanted somebody to protect these babies who aren’t wrong for loving basketball, but happen to have parents that allow the game to be the sole purpose of their lives. In the past, I’ve advocated for high school players being able to go straight to the pros, but if that means that coaches and scouts start coming after some of these kids before they can even do basic algebra, I have a change of heart.

 

Trier spends hours upon hours playing basketball, flying across the country to attend tournaments, and already has his own clothing line (personalized socks included). I read through every page (its quite lengthy) of the article hoping for some mention about school and finally on page 9 we learn that Trier has a learning disability and has already been held back a year because of low grades. If everyone had their priorities straight this boy wouldn’t be getting magazine profiles, and would receive more academic tutoring than private basketball tutoring, but that’s not the case. 

Trier’s tutor wants to work with him three days a week, but so far Trier has been able to fit in only two sessions a week because of his busy basketball schedule and his limited enthusiasm for them. When his mother asked what would motivate him to be more excited about the tutoring, he answered: more basketball instruction.

 

The craziest thing is, Trier’s mother is a social worker! From this article it sounds like Trier is good. Real good. But still, what if things don’t work out? There’s no mention of a backup plan and that is dangerous.  It makes me want to send all kinds of positive thoughts Trier’s way because anything but making it would be horrible for his family.

 

I get that these kids (and their parents) who come from poor backgrounds have gigantic hoop dreams so they can escape their poverty stricken lives (Trier’s mother lives in Section 8 housing, he’s never met his father) but a one-track mind will lead to a massive fail if some catastrophe occurs.  The motto of Trier’s clothing line is ““When the lights come on, it’s time to perform.”  What happens if his light’s dim? At least if Kevin Garnett has a career ending injury he has money in the bank. If Trier’s skills diminish, all the men who are now “mentoring” him will likely disappear and he will have nothing.  Except for maybe a cool nickname:

The Junior Phenom Camp was grass-roots basketball in distilled form — a caldron of ambition, networking, gossip and backbiting. The players had been identified and invited to San Diego after attending regional camps. Most of the 360 campers were being charged $450 to participate. All kinds of merchandise was available for purchase, including a camp program for $25 that listed the participants and their heights, hobbies, hometowns and nicknames, which made for interesting reading. There was a G-Money, a K-Money, a Cash-Money and one young man who simply called himself Money. Two campers went by Sir, while others — Da Truth, Superstar, Big Dog, the Chosen One — selected handles that seemed to demand respect. (Trier’s listed nickname was Zo, which is what just about everyone but his mother calls him.)

 

So what do y’all think? What age is too young to start engrossing these kids in all things athletic? 

 

And oh, of course Bron Bron’s name is mentioned all over this article.  The dude was offered millions of dollars, from Nike alone, straight out of high school.  Peep this video of Trier’s game versus ’Da Brons’ when he was just a boy.

Allonzo Trier

 

Lebron James (Do you know how hard it is to find high school footage of Lebron James without a shot-em up/die trick/kill a bitch background music? LOL. This is the best I could do!)

Tags: Allonzo Trier, Child Basketball Stars, Hoop Dreams, Kevin Garnett, Lebron James, NBA, NY Times Magazine