While talent in the NBA may be at an all-time high, the state of basketball IQ around the league is highly questionable, at best. According to former Miami Heat point guard Norris Cole, most of today’s players lack the on-court intelligence and know-how that every player used to have back in the day.
“Because of the age level and the style of play, these kids are coming in younger and younger and they never had to learn basic sets,” said Cole. “Like, we grew up running sets and would allow us sometimes to deviate. You could deviate, but only deviate when you need to. Let the system work for you until I need to be spectacular. Now it’s like I’m going to be spectacular straight from the jump. And they never had to move the ball side to side two or three times to get a shot. Now at the first available shot, you get it up.”
Norris Cole says the IQ in the NBA has significantly diminished… Agree?
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— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) November 24, 2023
Isolation basketball is more prevalent than ever in the modern NBA and it’s no mystery why. With the rise of talent across the league, even guys off the bench are capable of exploding for 20 or 30 points on any given night. The difference between now and before, however, is that many of today’s players no longer need assistance from teammates to find a good shot.
The State Of The Modern NBA
Norris Cole isn’t the only player to trash the basketball IQ of modern players. On a previous episode of his podcast, Gilbert Arenas claimed that up to 85% of all players lack a professional-level understanding of the game. Warriors veteran Draymond Green also agrees with this sentiment, as he explained on the Pat Bev podcast back in July: “Not only do I not think there’s not many guys that have that next level basketball IQ, there’s not many guys that have a basketball IQ in the NBA,” said Green. You’re talking less than 60% of the NBA.”
The truth is, NBA players today started off so young that many of them never got the chance to develop their IQ on the court and never learned how to properly read the game. Instead, they relied solely on their own talent to get them by. While this approach can often make life simple for young players, it doesn’t usually translate into winning and it can be a rude awakening for some.
NBA IQ Is The Missing Ingredient
While talent is the most important component in any player’s game, basketball IQ can often make the difference between winning and losing. In the case of Jordan Poole, who won a championship with the Warriors his inability to make the right decisions on the court cost him his spot on the team and now he’s having one of his worst seasons ever as the head of a Wizards squad with no accountability.
In comparison, LeBron James is thriving in his 21st season. As one of the smartest players in basketball history, the King has managed to stay elite after 20 years because he knows how to adjust his game and leave an impact in more ways than one. Sadly, this quality is lacking in too many players today and Norris Cole is aiming to change that.
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