Doug Gottlieb is disappointed in how Nike framed it messaging at a youth basketball tournament. The top players in the United States are learning from a young age to care more about themselves than the team.
He thinks it is a bad look for the organization and I think most people would agree.
It should not be the job of college basketball coaches to correct the behaviors that are taught to athletes in their youth. Europe does not have the same issue.
What is the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League?
Most simply put, the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) is an AAU circuit for boys and girls players under 17 years old, and a scholastic high school league for boys. It was established in 2010.
The EYBL circuit is widely considered the top youth basketball league in the United States, with 40 teams in total, including one Canadian team. Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Thaddeus Young, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant all have their own teams.
Unlike the AAU circuit, Nike EYBL Scholastic rosters must consist of four-year high school athletes. It is the premier national conference for boys high school basketball in the United States with 20 teams from Utah, California, Virginia, Tennessee, Kansas, Ohio, Florida, New York, Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, Massachussetts and New Hampshire.
The Peach Jam tournament effectively serves as the AAU national championship. It is a “summer-long gauntlet that brings together the best prospects from across the country, arming them with competition, exposure and resources no other platform can match.”
To play for the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League is a huge advantage for the athletes, if they are able. They get a lot more exposure on a national level and they get looked at by all of the top college coaches in the country.
Doug Gottlieb is extremely disappointed in the messaging.
As the sport continues to grow in popularity, the EYBL is a huge part of basketball culture in the United States, for better or for worse. Social media plays a significant role in the popularity. Edits are all over TikTok.
As is often the case in modern society, clout has a negative impact on culture. The latest EYBL tournament is a great example.
All of the signage around the arena is focused on “I.” There is a clear messaging. It’s about “me” not “we.” The goal is not to win together, but to shine as an individual.
Doug Gottlieb, the head basketball coach at Green Bay, hates to see it. He thinks it is a “comically bad look” for Nike and the EYBL. I agree. The biggest sporting brand in the world completely missed the mark.
He also thinks it is a perfect example of why youth programs in the United States are not as good as Europe. The American leagues are focused on singular success. Europeans are more focused on overall success, as a team. That creates problems on the next level.
There is a clear disconnect with a lot of young athletes when they get to college. They are selfish and egocentric. That does not lead to a national title. It does not bode well for the teammates around them.
Coaches, like Gottlieb, are then forced to correct those bad habits and character traits when the AAU athletes eventually get to campus. They have to clean up the mess that the circuits, like the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League, create.