6'10" on 8-foot rims? It's not crazy. He's 12.

The video has gone viral. A 6’10” Canadian boy is playing hoops on 8-foot rims. I saw at least 3-different sports blog sites saying that this is crazy. I mean, he’s 6’10”. He doesn’t even have to jump to dunk. Here's the link.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1007252609625939968

                Here’s why it’s not crazy.

                He’s 12 years old. So are the other boys on the court. Some are 11. And if I know anything about how some organizations put teams together, I’d bet a few of the kids in the league are 10-year-olds.

                Athletic fundamentals rarely change. A good batting stance has been the same for a hundred years. A solid wrist shot in hockey has looked the same since I saw Ron Dugay and Don Maloney playing for the New York Rangers in the early 80’s. The same is true with a jump shot. But as parents and coaches, we often accept poor fundamentals in an effort to rush kids into playing against better competitors who happen to be older.

                Here’s the cautionary tale of a young athlete I had the chance to work with a few moons ago. For the sake of story, we will call him “Mike.”

                At 10 years old, Mike loved basketball. He was a better dribbler than almost everyone in his small town, and he was as fast as most of the boys 2 and 3 years his senior. Mike and his family decided to have Mike try out of for a team made up of primarily 13 and 14 year olds. Mike made the team!

                One small problem though. Mike couldn’t reach the rim. After all, he was small for a 10-year-old. These kids played on the same sized court at the local HS kids… with 10-foot rims. So, to be productive, Mike adjusted his jump shot. Instead of shooting from his shoulder, Mike dropped the ball down to his hip when he shot so he could reach the rim. And it worked.

                In fact, Mike got pretty god at shooting from his hip. He became one of the better scorers on that team of much older boys. The coach loved it. Mike loved it. Everyone was happy. Everyone but the local high school coaches who cringed when they saw Mike’s release point. They knew just how easy that would be to defend at the high school level. Just stick your hand out and you’ll block that shot.

                Mike stuck with that release because it was working for him. He was able to get open enough that other kids that didn’t have the skillset of a high school player couldn’t block his shot. He put up huge number as a middle schooler, thanks in part to his unique jump shot.

He lived in a densely-populated area with multiple options for high school. He chose to attend the high school where he could start at point guard as a freshman. He made a major impact at his high school basketball team right away. Another coach in another program might was helped Mike fix his jump shot for long-term success, but this coach was elated to have success he had not seen at that school.

                Fast forward four years, and Mike is the all-time leading scorer in school history. He’s also the school’s all-time leader in steals. Mike’s family was thinking scholarship, but college coaches saw Kryptonite. That release was enough to turn off the recruiting video and move on to the next kid.

                Mike eventually ended up of a division III roster. He never made it into a game. After one season, he was cut from the team.

                A few years later, I had the chance to work with the college coach who cut Mike. He told me that if Mike worked to fix that release, or never fell into that bad habit in the first place, he could have been a good college player, possibly even a scholarship player at a higher level.

                For Mike, short-term gain was a major long-term loss.

                So, for the 6’10” kid playing on 8-foot rims, it’s not as crazy as it looks. He’s probably the only kid in the league taller than 5’7” or so. He’s the exception, not the rule. He’s 12. And, when shooting jump shots, his right hand starts above his shoulder.

Now, let’s think of  the 9 other kids on the court. They get to learn two tremendous lessons.

1.       They won’t have a release like Mike.

2.       Sometimes, somebody else is bigger, faster, stronger or just plain better. They’re learning to come to terms with that and find a way to be successful with the skills they have.

Their jump shot may never matter in life. But that second lesson will likely stick with them for the rest of their lives.