Here’s a nice peek into an NBA rookie’s life. There’s a lot to learn about this business, and the Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan gives some good insights, including his reaction to comments from LeBron James that the Raptors didn’t want to make the playoffs (“that’s his opinion”), how he and a teammate once took a night drive 40 miles outside of Toronto just to explore, and rookie hazing (or lack thereof).

Especially as an historic NBA Draft approaches, I’ve become more and more amazed how these young players, often times barely legal as far as walking into a bar, are forced to make multi-million-dollar business decisions that even 35-year-olds working in the bustling high-tech Silicon Valley or the rigors of Wall Street like us, would have a hard time sorting out. Here’s an excerpt from DeRozan on that note, but the entire article is worth the read. There’s also another post by the New Jersey Nets’ Terrence Williams that precedes DeRozan’s post.

The tough stuff about the league is just realizing very quickly that you are expected to be grown. In college they make you run when you mess up. Here, they fine you! It’s your money. It’s really a business. No one is going to baby you and you have to be accountable for all of your actions. Being away from my family was tough when I was frustrated on the court. I wished they were there just to ease it up a bit, but I got through it. There was a period where I went through what y’all call the rookie wall. Nothing was going my way and that was tough for me. Chris Bosh really helped me out with that. He told me you can’t let your last game affect your next game. You have to learn how to brush it off and keeping going. He told me he went through the same thing. He really helped me out a lot with that.

 Read the whole article: http://rookiechronicles.com/2010/05/demar-derozan-blog-wrapping-up-my-rookie-year/ 

Note to all NBA draftees: when you come into the Association, please bring your personality. If you can’t offer something unique in the spotlight, or if you don’t put your heart and soul towards being in the spotlight, chances are, there is someone more qualified than you who does, and who wants it more. And it doesn’t necessarily take basketball skill to do it.

Now, some of you might be too young to have fully developed a personality. That’s okay. Eventually you will have one. All human beings go through this process.

But unless you are a shoo-in for a lottery pick, you better at least counter that lack of a developed personality with a strategic gameplan that will lead you to an NBA career. That strategy could involve some element of PR, perhaps a greater element of basketball skills training, and more likely a combination of both. But please do not underestimate the PR portion.

Because public perception will soon become more powerful than you could’ve ever imagined.

And we’re not just talking the general public. We could be talking about any particular affinity group. It could be the subset of NBA general managers that may make a certain judgment about you by the basketball decisions you have made. It could be the subset of fans from your hometown that may make a certain judgment about you by the quotes you have made in any given interview.

Whatever the affinity, never underestimate it.

It’s just like Mark Cuban saying to new Nets owner and Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, in the excerpted interview by Howard Beck of the New York Times, below: If it’s not in your nature to show up, then you better at least plan to show up.

The NBA, where multi-million-dollar businesses happen.

Q. Where does personality come into play?

A. Personality matters in the entertainment business. Entertainment matters in the entertainment business. The N.B.A. doesn’t sell basketball in our arenas. We sell fun. On TV, we sell competition, passion, amazing athleticism and personality. When we say, “This is where amazing happens,” it’s as much Shaq’s oversized personality — now Michael Jordan on the sideline screaming at refs — as LeBron’s dunks or Dirk’s jumper. 

Read the whole article at: Words of Wisdom From the Mavericks’ Cuban – Off the Dribble Blog – NYTimes.com

You know how you get to talking with the new guy on your rec league team and he turns out to be a really thoughtful, introspective guy? I love finding diamonds in the rough like that. Jared Dudley of the Phoenix Suns was on the B.S. Report podcast awhile back and I had no idea he was so articulate. I’ve always wanted to map out a Bill Simmons podcast, but we’ll save it for another day. For now, I’ll just give you the core dump. I’m definitely gonna start following him on Twitter, too.

Dudley talked about Steve Nash. He packs his own meals on roadtrips. No fried foods, no desserts. Takes care of the body. Nash reportedly feels the altitude at Denver and Utah only in the first quarter.

Dudley often guards the other team’s best player, and also says for him, the hardest guy to defend in the league is not Kobe Bryant, not LeBron James, not Dwyane Wade — although D-Wade does have the most explosive first step. The toughest guy for him to guard in the NBA is Kevin Durant. Can’t block his shot.
read more from "The articulate Jared Dudley"

Here’s a hoops-related nugget from the John Madden daily podcast the other day on KCBS740 radio. He was talking about the NFL Draft and how 33-year old Brandon Crawford, defensive end for Ball State, has no shot at even an NFL camp because of his age (and the fact that he would have to be paid a full salary if he gets injured). The conversation shifted to sportswriter George Plimpton and his “tryout” back in the day with the Detroit Lions, to which Madden said that was “stupid”.

Then Madden brought up one of his many wonderful anecdotes — you can’t find them on Google! — about how Rick Barry wanted to catch a few balls during camp. Here’s an excerpt from about the 6:40 mark of the podcast, which is linked below…

“Rick Barry wanted to get dressed and run some patterns. You know, I took what I was doing pretty serious. So I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, you can come out, but you’re gonna stay out of the whole practice and you’re going to do everything.” I swear, just at that time, Jack Tatum and George Atkinson walk by and I was standing outside the locker room and so I said to Jack and George, ‘If this guy comes out and he catches a pass and comes around the middle, it’s full go. I want you to do to him what you’d do to anyone else.’ You think Rick Barry dressed?”

You can download this podcast here: http://www.kcbs.com/episode_download.php?contentType=36&contentId=4582542&tag=Box_4846023_Outer_Div;Box_4846023_Inner_Div

This is fascinating NBA business stuff that I always like to share with the Dream League community, to drop a little knowledge seeping out of the ivory towers of basketball: John Wall partnering with LeBron James. You know, coming from a previous life as a venture capitalist, these kinds of deals are happening on a daily basis in our local backyard right here in Silicon Valley, the center of the world as it pertains to high tech. Similar movers and shakers are negotiating big deals in parallel in the world of hoops.

So, pop quiz: What does the fact that LeBron/LRMR asked Chris Paul to invest in the company tell you about LRMR? With all due respect, Maverick Carter would get “posterized” if this happened in Silicon Valley.

Here’s an excerpt (link is below)…

Because of James, Carter has cachet. Everyone has to take meetings with him. What LRMR has tried to sell to players is this: LeBron can’t take every deal offered him. Sometimes, his hand-me-downs are better than anything else out there. They tried hard to recruit New Orleans star Chris Paul away from Octagon, but sources say Paul ultimately balked at the idea of purchasing equity in the company.

“They needed Chris a lot more than Chris needed them,” a league marketing source said.

James will go back again and again for Kentucky’s stars. Rival agents gasped when close associate, William Wesley, walked into a Wildcat game with rapper Drake. As one said, “How the hell can I compete with that?” James has made himself part of the Kentucky program. Kentucky coach John Calipari has deftly positioned himself as a favorite of James, hiring one of his high school teammates, Brandon Weems, in his basketball operations, and treating James like an honorary alumnus. It’s good for Calipari’s and James’ recruiting.

Read the whole article at: Wall could soon join LeBron’s marketing firm – NBA – Yahoo! Sports