What does it take to become a pro athlete? (Split)

[cdif911]

Pro athletes get where they are today because they have the talent and the drive to get them there. Michael Jordan was cut from his freshman HS basketball team. He didn't just decide not to try out again after that. He put in the work that made him who he is today. Star, you never became what you wanted to be or thought you could be because you quit on yourself. You didn't have the drive to keep going. You can say you never got the chance or politics kept you from getting a chance, but those are just excuses. If you want to play a sport, then you get out there and work hard to earn you spot. If you want something in the sports world you gotta get out there and take it. No one is going to hand you anything.

MJ actually was not cut from his HS freshman team, a common misconception - he was cut from varsity and played JV. It was also his sophomore year, not his freshman year that this happened.  In most high schools around America, freshman play freshman ball, sophomores and some juniors play JV, and juniors and seniors play varsity - there are exceptions, but to use this as an example I think is overused in many ways...

[Champzilla]

You honestly think Rondo is just a little better than you ?

[Redz]

Baseball to me may be the sport with the biggest jump from high school to MLB.
I was a great high school baseball player.  But the summer of my junior year I attended a baseball camp at Miss State (Ron Polk's camp), that is where I learned I did not have what it took to make the next level.

The camp was geared toward players attmepting to be seen by college coaches, scouts, etc.  Until this camp I had handled 90 mph fastballs by one of the pitchers in our league, so I was pretty confident that I would be OK. 
The pitchers I saw there had wicked breaking balls, could change speeds, and even a had few additional mph on the fastball; and I couldn't hit.  The whole 2 weeks I struggled like I had never struggled playing ball.  I realized from talking to many of the beter hitters there, that I was not even begining to see the same things as they were.  They tried to teach me how to pick up the rotation of the ball leaving the pithers hand, to look for the location of the seams, and to work on where on my bat I was hitting the ball.
I am convinced that these guys must have better than 20-20 vision.  Because in my normal high school games I could survive by waiting for my pitch, not swinging at pitches I couldn't handle, not the case at the next level.  You must be able to hit any pitch, you can't hide your weaknesses.  Even the pitchers at the camp by the end of the 2 weeks figured out how to pitch me.  It was an extremly humbling experience.

I believe that most pro athletes have physical gifts that most of do not have.  There are definatly more people with the gifts than are actually pro athletes, I image that there are plently of guys with good enough vision and hand eye cordination to play pro ball, that are doing something different, they may be dentist.  You need both the gifts and the desire.

TP...Nice post.

I loved playing baseball and played it quite a bit.  But as a catcher, I was never once coached about any of the stuff they talk about when they say Jason Varitek is great at handling a pitcher.  There are levels of understanding baseball that go way beyond the physical stuff you described.  Look at the amount of guys toiling in the minor leagues in baseball.  Most of those guys are probably one of the best athletes to ever come from their hometowns.

[Champzilla]

I think you need to watch him up close to really see how good he is.

[Redz]

I guess the short answer to this question would be:

A CONTRACT

[incoherent]

I played AAU ball with Nik Medley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nik_Caner-Medley).  He didn't seem like anything special to me... he was taller then most of us certainly stronger.

He dominated Maine highschool basketball because of his size.

With that brought tons of attention and that brought opportunity.

Being big at a young age certainly helps.

[cdif911]

I played AAU ball with Nik Medley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nik_Caner-Medley).  He didn't seem like anything special to me... he was taller then most of us certainly stronger.

He dominated Maine highschool basketball because of his size.

With that brought tons of attention and that brought opportunity.

Being big at a young age certainly helps.

the best I played with was Sean Connolly (fenwick standout, providence and Ohio state college career, current St. John's Prep coach) and this was just pickup, but he was ridiculously accurate shooting, great handle, great court vision, big kid too (6'5ish, played the 2 and the 3).  Literally 1000 times better than me, and he didn't make the pros...

[indeedproceed]

I played highschool football against Brian Leonard. Best athlete I've ever played against.

You could tell he was special then (I think he broke the NYS single season rushing record or something), and he's a marginal NFL player now. That's the difference. He was hands down the BEST running back in the state, and he's a marginal fullback (not a halfback, a FULLBACK) at the NFL level.

[tb727]

I am 31 and had the chance to play against Elton Brand and Ron Artest while in high school.

Artest was a soph while I was a junior.  He started, maybe scored 10 points but certainly didn't give me the impression he'd become as good as he has.  On the other hand they had God Shammgod (Shammgod Wells) who some may remember played at Providence College, had a quick stint with the Wizards and was out of the league.  He scored about 30 points in maybe 18 minutes.  He had our point guard (who played at Wagner College a D-I school) falling all over himself when he handled the ball.  And he dunked on the fast break from about one step in front of the foul line.

After that game if you were to tell me that Shammgod wouldn't be in the NBA and Artest would be I'd say you're crazy.

Now this relates somewhat to the Opening Poster- Artest matured later, became bigger, stronger and more talented while Shammgod was at his peak at that time.

My point is this: there are a ridiculous number of good players who don't make it.  I barely saw anytime in all of high school because our starting guards went D-I; bottom line I wasn't better than them.  And I had 2 Division III colleges try to recruit me to play for them so I was a decent player.  But I don't think I ever thought I'd be able to make the NBA.  I wasn't close to being better than Shammgod.  I too matured later also- I grew about 2.5 inches AFTER high school and bulked up.  I could finally dunk when I was 19.  But I just wasn't in the league of those other guys and I realized it.

There's just so many tremendous players that never make it which makes it that much more unrealistic for me to think I could have made it.

[BballTim]

Rajon Rondo is Top 5 PG in the league.  He is an awesome player, I love the way he plays and he is extremely talented.   However, I do not think that he is that much more talented than I am.   That isn't a knock at Rondo at all.  I've seen these guys play in person, and I do not think they are that much more talented than me. At first you may laugh, but these are the facts.

  Have you ever tried to play against someone of that caliber? I'd guess that there's a huge difference between going up against them and just watching them play. When I was a kid I could hit my friends in stride 40 yards downfield and then turn on the tv and watch pro quarterbacks overthrow wide open backs on screen passes. That seems somewhat similar to what you're saying. Look at your statement. You're saying Rondo (a top pg) isn't much more talented than you. That would put you on the same level as most of the pgs in the nba. If you were that good you'd easily be the best player on the court every time you picked up a ball.

[RAcker]

I guess the short answer to this question would be:

A CONTRACT

And nowadays, maybe some roids.   

[cdif911]

Rajon Rondo is Top 5 PG in the league.  He is an awesome player, I love the way he plays and he is extremely talented.   However, I do not think that he is that much more talented than I am.   That isn't a knock at Rondo at all.  I've seen these guys play in person, and I do not think they are that much more talented than me. At first you may laugh, but these are the facts.

  Have you ever tried to play against someone of that caliber? I'd guess that there's a huge difference between going up against them and just watching them play. When I was a kid I could hit my friends in stride 40 yards downfield and then turn on the tv and watch pro quarterbacks overthrow wide open backs on screen passes. That seems somewhat similar to what you're saying. Look at your statement. You're saying Rondo (a top pg) isn't much more talented than you. That would put you on the same level as most of the pgs in the nba. If you were that good you'd easily be the best player on the court every time you picked up a ball.

according to the post he's never played an organized game tho

[indeedproceed]

according to that post your new sig is awesome.

[star18]

Sorry I didn't get back to this thread for a while.  Look, I understand what most of you are saying.  I agree with the post that there are so many tremendous players out there that never made it to the pros. That is what my original post was intended for.  I don't think it is 100% about talent to be a pro player I think that there are a lot of other circumstances that come into play.

Some of you may think that if I am a great athlete it should be my dream to be in pro sports.  That is not the case.  Women will always be #1 for me, whether I have a girlfriend or numerous girlfriends and what I do with them will always be more important than what I can achieve for myself.  It is a fact that I don't want to spend 99% of my time hanging out with guys, competing with guys, slapping high fives with guys, and getting physical with guys.  I would rather hang out with women, actually rarely even talk to men anymore, I don't have anything against them, they just don't have what I want and enjoy. This is also the main reason why I decided not to pursue sports in the first place.

When many of you question whether ot not I have talent as an athlete I can tell you this much.   Whatever alot of these guys have physically I have.  I am similiar height and weight to many pro athletes.  Sure 6'4 225 would be better, but 5'11 200 isn't that bad. So to say I don't have the talent I do not agree with that.  To say I don't have the drive, the coaching, can put up with all the traveling and practicing that makes sense. 

Being great at pro sports is about longevity.  To make the Baseball Hall of Fame people talk about 500HR 1500 RBI, 3000 hits, 15+ years etc.   To me longevity and talent are two different things.   If you are a great baseball player, and only play in 40 games but hit .300 with 10 HR & 30 RBI, to me you are a great player and extremely talented.  Why do you have to play for 15 years to be considered great? Because that is how people look at it.  But to me if you only play in 40 games doesn't mean you aren't talented. 

Many of the players that some of you talk about from your childhood days were great players and they never made it big in pro sports.  To me, that doesn't mean they weren't great and talented players or even as good as the guys that made it.  Alot has to do with coaches, scouts, etc., where they pick and choose who plays what and where.  So because they didn't make it may not have been because they weren't talented enough, they just didn't get the break they needed to be there.

To be a pro athlete, that sport has to be your life.  Sports is not my life.   I have other things which I think are more important. I don't want to play in the NBA for 15 years, I don't want to play in the MLB for 15 years.  I don't want to slap A-Rod for 162 games.  I would rather hook up with women, but that is just me.

All I'm saying is that if you threw me out on the court for the Celtics vs. Cavs opener this year, with 15,000 screaming fans watching me, the millions at home on TV, the adrenaline rush to be playing with KG,PP,Ray,Perk & Rondo I would hold my own.  Sure we would most likely get beat if I got 30 minutes, and sure I would look terrible on certain plays.   However, what I am saying is that it wouldn't be anywhere near the embarrassment you may think it would be.  And these players wouldn't be the light years ahead of me that many of you think.  And then if I had all the other stuff around me that the NBA players have, in about 1 year I could be good enough to be a 10th or 11th man. 

I don't want to be the guy who practices 24/7, I don't want to be the guy who does all the interviews and talks to all the agents, coaches, announcers, scouts etc.  I just want to put on the uniform and play in a real game, because that is when I will play my best and try my hardest because it is actually worth it at that point. Somebody asked if I ever played against a Rondo, or a KG, or a Lebron, or someone with that skill level.  Where am I supposed to do something like that? I don't want to play in some semi-pro half-organized league with 30 people in the stands.  I only want to play in the real thing because I do not want to put my physical health at risk for nothing.  Again I've never played a full court 5 on 5 organized basketball game in my life.

I haven't ruled out making a chance to tryout for an NBA team yet. I may give it one chance when I am 37, because I have other things in life I want to take care of first.  Is it my life? No.  Am I a great player? Yes. Are the NBA players better than me, yes, are they lightyears ahead of me, I do not believe so.  If I am physically healthy, and in physical shape and I have the drive and passion to play the game why would they be?

[cdif911]

I haven't ruled out making a chance to tryout for an NBA team yet. I may give it one chance when I am 37, because I have other things in life I want to take care of first.  Is it my life? No.  Am I a great player? Yes. Are the NBA players better than me, yes, are they lightyears ahead of me, I do not believe so.  If I am physically healthy, and in physical shape and I have the drive and passion to play the game why would they be?

friendly wager?