This book has been in my “to read” stack for quite some time. Typically, if I find that other books keep leapfrogging a particular book, I’ll realize that I’m just not that interested in reading it and I have no problem setting it aside. For some reason, Play Their Hearts Out stuck around. I’d read too many good reviews and too many recommendations to abandon it. I think it’s time.
Yes, baseball has started, but we’re nearly a month in and the excitement of the new season has waned a bit as we settle into the long grind of the regular season. Meanwhile, the NBA playoffs have started after a bizarre shortened season, so what better time to read a good basketball book?
But this book isn’t about NBA millionaires, nor college athletes. The subject is youth basketball, specifically the AAU leagues where all of the very best young players face off. These aren’t school-affiliated teams; these are teams constructed solely for the purpose of developing and promoting the most promising young talent. You can imagine the effect this has on the style of play; AAU games are notoriously devoid of defense, and the offensive strategies tend to highlight individual ability rather than passing and teamplay.
As a result, AAU leagues have received widespread blame for the decline in the quality of basketball at the college and professional level. The best players aren’t receiving solid fundamental instruction at an early age, so goes the argument. There’s some legitimacy to this line of thinking, but it understates the problem. It’s bad that young talented players are learning bad basketball habits; it’s indefensible that these same players are being roped in by coaches, promoters, and shoe companies, and then discarded when their future dims in comparison to their peers. One bad injury, one bad decision — and all the promises are yanked away.
If you want to understand the current state of basketball, read this book.
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