NBA writer and psychologist Travis Heath finally realizes that NBA players are actually less interesting (and not as smart) than the average human: Searching For NBA Meaning OT: Two stories helped bring this home for me. The first was Shawn Kemp. He was superathletic and was one of the best dunkers in his generation, he was an exciting player. Who wouldn't want to be like him? Well, let's just say that while he had a lot of "relationships" he had few that were meaningful. He was neither intelligent nor a good decision-maker, he didn't live a great life regardless of the money, fame, and athleticism. I'd rather just be "just plain old" me than Shawn Kemp. The second more dramatic example was Mike Tyson. While he was a world champion and millionaire as a teenager, no sane person would want to be a young Mike Tyson. A street kid whose trainer and grandmother (who raised him) died within a year of each other before he turned 20 (I think) he was alone in the world. That's right there were zero humans he could trust. His "friends" just wanted his money. In his famous wedding his new mother-in-law made it clear her goal was to get his money as fast as possible. Unfortunately, I think Tyson's promoter Don King got his money first. Without even basic social skills let alone any real semblence of intelligence or wisdom he was alone in a world of people he couldn't trust. He once crashed a Mercedes and just left the car there. His social ignorance landed him an extended stint in jail. These guys aren't the exception, they're the rule. Basically, I give NBA players a 4-year handicap - an average 20 year old NBA player is about as mature as a typical 16 year old. You can see this in Thomas Robinson. Maybe a 6-year handicap for Meyers Leonard. Fortunately there are plenty of exceptions, but I find 4-year rule a pretty good one. The bigger the star the less mature, the smaller the school the more mature. It's not a surprise that many of us are big fans of the small school Jerome Kerseys, Terry Porters, Damian Lillards, and C.J. McCollums of the world. The Kobe Bryants and Carmelo Anthonys of the world not so much.
He asks how many questions can you ask about basketball, then talks about how much he enjoyed a non-basketball conversation with David West. Maybe he should have tried more non-basketball conversations? Some years ago I had a co-worker who was engaged to a player on the San Francisco 49ers. She brought him to the company holiday party, introduced him around, and nearly everyone wanted to talk to him about football. Like he could not possibly have anything to say about anything else. She finally introduced him to a guy who admitted knowing nothing about sports. The player later told her it was the best conversation he had all evening because they were talking about other general stuff instead of football football football.
