Preparing To Take The Leap
The NBA has a number of talented young players looking to take the leap in the next stage of their developments as rising stars throughout the 2023-24 NBA season
Confidence is everything in life.
In basketball, it’s the most important ingredient to unlocking a player’s potential. Each year we see a collection of some of the best young talent in the world step onto an NBA court for the first time. These players are looking to write the next chapter of their basketball journey, hoping to fulfill their lifelong goal of working as a professional athlete.
Every NBA player has talent. That’s part of the reason they were drafted or signed to be on an active roster in the first place. But there’s a truth that we have to all realize as evaluators, scouts, and fans of this beautiful game.
You can have all the talent in the world…but without confidence, you’ll have nothing.
In order to establish some confidence in this sport, you’ve got to find success. It doesn’t come right away for most players. In fact, it’s usually just the opposite. Teenagers are more often than not going to face some adversity at some point early on in their NBA careers. That’s when the intangibles come into play. How hard are you willing to work to get over that hurdle? Can you stay confident within yourself to keep chipping away until things start to click?
Success generates confidence. Once a young talent starts to see a furry of confidence coming in, that’s when you start to realize…we’ve got something special here.
One of my favorite topics to discuss with each incoming NBA season is taking a look at players who are ready to take a “leap” in their development. As evaluators, there’s nothing better than seeing a player start to finally put the pieces of the puzzle together on a basketball court. You start to see their potential rise to the surface. With that, some of their best basketball begins to be put on display.
Below is going to feature a number of players I’ve had my eye on this year as individuals who I believe can take that next leap. As fans of the NBA, we are all eager for players to hit their stride as quickly as possible. But as I always like to hammer home, it simply takes time. Each player can start to “click” at different times throughout their careers.