Photo by Jennifer Endom
It’s been a little more than a month since the lockout began. That’s it. Time has limped and crawled since the official end of the NBA season, and at best we’re looking at another three months of non-activity. For NBA players, the lockout has become a simulation of life after the NBA — after guaranteed contracts and endorsements are over. And like the inevitable slide that occurs with age, the lockout and all of its undesired effects are largely out of their control. This drought has made it clear that basketball won’t always be present on the horizon.
For current players locked out, it means twiddling their thumbs (not literally) while the storm passes. Still, they are lucky. Within a year, the process will resume. Basketball will be played, and large quantities of money will be made. For an unfortunate group of others, an NBA lockout has become a permanent reality.
CBS Sports’ Jeff Goodman detailed the struggles of the high school recruiting class of 2002, a class that was supposed to be one of the most talented in years. In the top five are familiar all-stars in Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh. Three names. But going down the list into the top-25, names are hazy — some uttered with a faint recollection and others with a sigh. Out of the 25 players, only a few managed to survive on their NBA journey.
Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, Raymond Felton, Chris Bosh and J.J. Redick.
Yes, that’s it.
“Are you serious?” Redick said when informed there were only five NBA guys. “That is nuts. No way.”
“Those numbers are alarming,” added former UNC star Sean May, who spent last year in Turkey. “We had one of the best high school classes ever.”
via Class of 2002 a cautionary tale for today’s All-Americans | CBSSports.com
Other names in the top-25 include:
- Former Timberwolves/Kings gunner Rashad McCants, who was ranked No. 4 in the nation. He’s since been exiled from the NBA, more for his eccentricities than any malicious doing.
- Sean May, whose conditioning woes and frequent injuries have kept him away from the league.
- Four-year Duke point guard Sean Dockery, who may be most remembered for his rivalry with Will Bynum for Chicago supremacy. Bynum currently plays for the Detroit Pistons. Dockery never played in an NBA game.
- Lenny Cooke, a player primed to be the next star NBA swingman. Goodman wrote an excellent feature on his fall from stardom, and how he’s picked up the pieces.
Of course, these are only a few of them.
Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears noted that numerous NBA players have returned to college during the lockout. The work stoppage has players adopting a new perspective on their life not only as basketball players. There is life after basketball. Those forced into a head start on that life echo the importance of education:
“Get your degree,” [Michael] Thompson said. “Everyone that was there won’t be there when it goes sour. Everyone blowing smoke up your ass won’t be there. Go to a good school because, at the end of the day, you have yourself. No one is going to help you.”
via Class of 2002 a cautionary tale for today’s All-Americans | CBSSports.com
There are no tragedies here, but the account of so many dashed dreams is certainly unfortunate. These forgotten faces from the Class of 2002 serve as a reminder that there is no perfect formula for NBA success. Relevance one day can swiftly and unmercifully be taken away. But fate and success — in the NBA and otherwise — favors (but does not guarantee) those with a stable foundation. Players both past and present are learning that it’s never too late to start building.
