Okay, so I was kicking back, watching some NBA highlights the other night, and something kinda clicked in my head. It wasn’t like a big revelation, more like a slow burn realization that I’d been noticing for a while but hadn’t really put into words.
It started making me think about all the familiar names popping up, not just players, but coaches, staff… guys whose dads or uncles were big deals in the league back in the day. It felt like more than just coincidence, you know?
Digging Into It (Mentally, Mostly)
So, I started kinda mentally listing them out. It wasn’t hard. You just start thinking about it, and names pop up quick.
Player Connections:
- You got the obvious ones, like Steph and Seth Curry, sons of Dell. Great players, no doubt, but that name recognition sure doesn’t hurt getting scouted early, does it?
- Then you think about guys like Tim Hardaway Jr., Gary Payton II… legacy players.
- It just seems like having a dad who played gives you a massive leg up. Access to training, coaches, eyes on you from a young age.
Coaching and Front Office Links:
This is where it got even more interesting for me. I started noticing coaches hiring their sons or guys they previously worked with, over and over.
- Think about Doc Rivers coaching Austin. That was a big one people talked about.
- But it’s not just the famous examples. Seems like lots of assistant coaching gigs, scouting positions, front office jobs go to people already ‘in the network’.
- It feels like a closed circle sometimes. You get your foot in the door because of who you know, not necessarily what you know or how good you are compared to everyone else out there.
My Takeaway Process
I spent a good chunk of time just thinking about this, flipping through names in my head, remembering past rosters and coaching staffs. It wasn’t like I did some deep academic research, more like connecting dots based on years of just being a fan and paying attention.
I looked at team staffs online, just browsing. You see the same last names sometimes, or you recognize a name from a coach’s previous team. It’s there if you look for it.
Does it mean these guys aren’t qualified? Not always. Some are probably great. But it just makes you wonder about the guys who don’t have those connections. How many talented coaches or potential front-office stars never get a shot because they didn’t play golf with the right guy or their dad wasn’t a legend?
It feels kinda… weird. Like, we talk about the NBA being this ultimate meritocracy on the court, best players win. But behind the scenes, it feels a lot more like who you know. It’s not unique to the NBA, happens everywhere I guess, but it’s just really noticeable there because the names are so public.
So yeah, that was my little journey down the rabbit hole. Started with a stray thought watching highlights, ended up realizing just how interconnected and, well, nepotistic the whole league structure can feel sometimes. It is what it is, I suppose, but it’s definitely something I see now when I watch the games or follow the off-season moves.
