We believe in teaching basketball early because the window to play is short.
Unlike many other professions, where someone can choose to start later in life, the path to becoming a professional basketball player is far more time-sensitive. Those who begin their careers right after college, whether in business, medicine, law, etc., often reach their peak in their 40s. In the NBA, however, nearly all careers are finished by then. This makes early development essential. While others have decades to grow and could even start a career at 40 and still succeed, basketball players must capitalize on their youth to make the most of their limited window.
Consider this: only one player in the NBA is currently over the age of 40, and 80% of the league is 29 or younger. Even more striking, 18% of players are 21 or younger. These statistics underscore the urgency of teaching basketball fundamentals and life skills early on. By starting young, players have the best chance to develop their abilities, maximize their potential, and prepare for the challenges of a career that demands peak physical and mental performance at a young age.
Listen as Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a six-time NBA champion and the league’s all-time leading scorer for nearly 40 years, explains how basketball, unlike other professions, is a career with an inevitable endpoint.
Listen as Quentin Richardson, a veteran NBA sharpshooter and respected leader, talks about how few players are lucky enough to even extend their careers into their early thirties.
Listen as Klay Thompson, a four-time NBA champion and one of the greatest shooters in history, reflects on how, when you’re young, it feels like you’ll play forever.
Developing skills early is crucial not just for NBA hopefuls, but for any player striving for long-term success.
This urgency applies to all levels of the game, whether it’s making a high school team, earning a college scholarship, or playing for personal fulfillment. The foundation built at a young age often determines how far a player can go, shaping their path and unlocking their potential.
Even for those who may only compete at the high school level, starting early offers the best opportunity to maximize their abilities and enjoy the game at the highest level they can achieve.
If you rewind the process, you can identify the age when development is most impactful.
If you rewind the journey of players who make it to the NBA, a clear pattern emerges. By the time they reach college, they’ve already established themselves as elite players, and their college coach isn’t the one who shaped their foundation. In high school, they’ve typically been All-Americans by their senior year and committed to a college by their junior year, both milestones built on prior development. As sophomores, they are already considered among the best in the country, and as freshmen, they’re often ranked in the top 100. While there are occasional late bloomers who defy this timeline, this is the typical path for most players.
Even though most kids will never make it to the NBA, the same process applies at every level—whether a player’s journey ends in high school or college, it likely traces back to early development, where they were already standing out as freshmen and progressing from there.
This is why the most critical years for development are between the ages of 6 and 13 years old. During this period, players build the foundation for future success, giving themselves the best chance to rise through the ranks and reach their full potential.
Listen as Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and one of the game’s most relentless competitors, talks about how the championships he won later in his life were by a byproduct of drills he did when he was a young kid.
This time frame is not only critical for the development of basketball fundamentals but also for building essential life skills that extend far beyond the game.
Listen as Hall of Famer Pat Riley, a nine-time NBA champion as a player, coach, and executive, discusses how much his life was shaped during this critical time frame.
While learning the sport at a young age is important, developing a strong foundation in discipline, hard work, and accountability is even more essential, as a basketball career eventually ends, but these lessons last a lifetime.
Research shows that early life skill development leads to better academic outcomes, lower incarceration rates, and improved well-being, proving that while basketball is temporary, the values it instills create a lasting impact.
It's all intertwined — strong life skills make players better on the court, and the game, in turn, helps shape better people.
For more information on the life skill component, be sure to check out our “Answers to the Test” page, or just click here.
