Over the last couple of years, many young NBA stars have found themselves in trouble due to the lack of guidance. It has made the value of veteran players on the team even more important.
Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers was asked an interesting question during his recent appearance on ‘The Last Stand Podcast with Brian Custer.’ Custer wanted to know what’s the biggest change Lillard would make if he were the current NBA Commissioner.
“If I was the commissioner, it would be mandatory to have two vets on the team,” Lillard said. “I’m talking about real vets like how Miami has Udonis Haslem. He can play if they need him to play, but like a real leader, somebody that’s been around. Somebody that guys have to respect.”
Players like Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, and PJ Washington have all gotten into trouble due to a lack of veteran leadership in their respective team’s locker rooms. Lillard thinks veteran players can become father figures for young stars in the NBA.
“Almost like a father figure on the team because guys are coming into the league so young, and they have all this money,” he added. “It’s almost like they get everything, and it’s a dream come true, but they’re exposed to a lot of things that can put you in a world of trouble. And your parents aren’t always gonna be able to be there to hold your hand.”
The 32-year-old Trail Blazers superstar concluded: “You’re gonna be trying to distance yourselves from your parents because you want to live. So, it’s important to have people that are on that journey with these young dudes to kind of steer them in the right direction and show them the way properly.”
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Playing in the NBA is a dream come true for most young players. But most of the rising prospects in the league lack the education on how to deal with the sudden fame and money.
Keeping that in mind, having mandatory veteran presences in the locker room could slowly but surely fix this problem in the NBA.
Adam Silver Is Hesitant To Send A Message To Players With Ja Morant’s Punishment
Ja Morant is one of the brightest young superstars in the NBA. The Memphis Grizzlies star averaged 26.2 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 8.1 APG during the 2022-23 NBA regular season.
Playing at an elite level has never been an issue for Ja. But he cannot seem to keep his erratic off-court behavior in control. Over the last few months, Morant has gotten himself into two gun-flashing controversies.
Although Morant got away with just an eight-game suspension for the first offense, the NBA is expected to be much stricter with the punishment a second time. Despite that, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver doesn’t want to be too harsh about sending a message to the rest of the league with Morant’s potential suspension.
“I get a little nervous when people talk about sending a message,” Silver said. “Sometimes, it implies that you may not be fair to that individual player. But there’s no question in this league that there’s something called ‘conduct detrimental to the league,’ and it’s not just conduct that may be negative – we want to portray a positive image in terms of our players in this league.”
Maintaining the image of the league is a vital job of Adam Silver. So, it’s only obvious that he doesn’t want to ruin it with harsh punishment for Ja.
Either way, the 23-year-old is still expected to be suspended for at least 30 games during the 2023-24 NBA season. Silver will make the announcement with exact details after the 2023 NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and the Denver Nuggets wrap up.
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