Chicago Bulls: LeBron James has a spot on take on AAU coaching problems

If the Chicago Bulls, and the other 29 NBA teams, want more health and less load management in the near future, AAU might want to dial it back.

While it seems like a far-fetched problem for the Chicago Bulls and their players, coaches, and fans, the AAU world of basketball is one that could emerge into a bigger and bigger issue as the years move along. Injuries and load management alike are big discussion points among NBA fans, and the Los Angeles Lakers future Hall-of-Fame superstar forward LeBron James jumped into the conversation this week.

In an interview with Yahoo Sports that was released on Nov. 11, LeBron opened up on his views of AAU basketball as it stands today. LeBron has a kid, Bronny James, that is one of the biggest names that is followed by basketball fans everywhere in AAU. So LeBron clearly would have a big opinion on how AAU is run and how he feels it could improve.

You can often see LeBron getting hyped up on the sidelines of AAU basketball games when his kids are involved in the games. Bronny looks to be the next one up that will be a hotly contested high school prospects in the world of college basketball recruiting. He actually already holds offers and scout looks from blue blood college programs like the Kentucky Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Kansas Jayhawks.

Yet, when a superstar voice like LeBron speaks out on the impact of AAU, it could change things in a hurry.

The world of AAU basketball has completely taken over in relevance at the levels lower than college hoops. In this day and age, AAU is more important in the process of draft scouting and college hoops recruiting than high school basketball.

It seems like injuries and load management are more important than ever in basketball at any level. Elite talents can’t play in 100+ games per year at a high level between AAU and high school competition. Injuries are going to happen just from fatigue and law of averages when kids are playing that much.

Here’s what LeBron had to say on the matter of AAU in terms of injuries and physical damage at a young age for these basketball players.

"I think [AAU] has something to do with it, for sure."

He also dove in on the coaches and organizers of these AAU teams.

"It was a few tournaments where my kids — Bronny and Bryce — had five games in one day and that’s just f- – -ing out of control. That’s just too much. And there was a case study where I read a report. I don’t know who wrote it not too long ago, and it was talking about the causes and [kid’s] bodies already being broken down and they [attributed] it to AAU basketball and how many games that these tournaments are having for the [financial benefit]. So, I’m very conscious for my own son because that’s all I can control, and if my son says he’s sore or he’s tired, he’s not playing."

LeBron had quite a few hot takes for the coaches in AAU, which is interesting considering his kid’s participation with these teams. But he does have a point on how the nature of injuries and fatigue are going to play a role in the developing talent that is pouring into the NBA today.

We’re starting to see how these injuries transpire in the NBA now. Part of that has to stem from the pure quantity of games that all these kids are playing year in and year out as they move into the world of college basketball.

This is a topic that Bulls fans, coaches, and players should be following as time moves along. A lot of the players for the Bulls are still very relevant in the AAU landscape. Shooting guard Zach LaVine even has a nationally competitive AAU team at numerous age levels. That’s just part of the trend in the NBA now.

The NBA Draft and the college basketball recruiting process should have more of an emphasis on one level of hoops. But AAU adds another dimension to the recruiting process along with high school. At least dialing back the workload that these younger kids have would be a good first step in this process of load management with the lower age groups.