# Holy Crap!! The Kid's Got GAME (Basketball)!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 11, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160 "2011-01-11T00:18:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/1 "2011-01-11T00:18:15Z")
Check this boy Jordan McCabe out. Christ almighty… [http://www.komonews.com/home/video/111892554.html](http://www.komonews.com/home/video/111892554.html) ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/2 "2011-01-11T00:32:18Z")
Very cool. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes. Hopefully, dad is encouraging him to keep his grades up and make friends too. That news guy was annoying. If close your eyes and just listen to the news guy when the kid is doing his routine in the middle of the gym, it sounds like he’s narrating gay porn. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/3 "2011-01-11T00:57:33Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > Very cool. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes. Hopefully, dad is encouraging him to keep his grades up and make friends too. > > That news guy was annoying. If close your eyes and just listen to the news guy when the kid is doing his routine in the middle of the gym, it sounds like he’s narrating gay porn. Yeah, that was the bad part for sure. The kid looks like the next white Harlem Globetrotter, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/4 "2011-01-11T02:07:30Z")
One of the posts on that site asks if he can play defense. Another annoyance about the news guy is he keeps calling him “the kid” and “the boy.” It’s like he didn’t know the kid’s name when he recorded the voice over. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/5 "2011-01-11T02:20:18Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > One of the posts on that site asks if he can play defense. > > Another annoyance about the news guy is he keeps calling him “the kid” and “the boy.” It’s like he didn’t know the kid’s name when he recorded the voice over. 😃 He probably didn’t remember, hence the vague references. “But bow howdy, isn’t that, er…_boy_ amazing!?!?” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/6 "2011-01-11T02:23:58Z")
er, ok, the kid’s good, but… _hero?_ jfc. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/7 "2011-01-11T02:27:14Z")
I had to stop the video after the news guy drooled “Two balls between the legs!” Uh…can you have a seat over there…? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/8 "2011-01-11T03:57:51Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > er, ok, the kid’s good, but… _hero?_ > > jfc. I know, I know…lame. > [@Duke](#): > > I had to stop the video after the news guy drooled “Two balls between the legs!” Uh…can you have a seat over there…? 😃 Unfortunate turn of phrase by cheese-dick. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/9 "2011-01-11T04:43:06Z")
Got game? Who knows? Has he got heart? Does he have footspeed? Does he get nervous in a tight ballgame? Can he shoot from long distance when he doesn’t have time to bring his hands low to get power? Can he play defense? Does he know when, and to whom, to make those fancy passes? Can he shoot with a hand in his face? Who knows? Frankly, there are kids that can do that fancy dribbling and running the ball between their legs stuff on a whole lot of teams. That’s a ball handling drill that youth teams have been teaching for 30 years now. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/10 "2011-01-11T19:47:43Z")
Moving from MPSIMS to the Game Room. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/11 "2011-01-12T01:50:34Z")
I thought this was going to be a video of an actual game. Fancy moves at the gym don’t always translate to actual skill on the court. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/12 "2011-01-12T02:23:20Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Fancy moves at the gym don’t always translate to actual skill on the court. He’s young enough to work up to that. But the narrator of that piece? Not much hope there. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/13 "2011-01-12T02:25:16Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > That news guy was annoying. If close your eyes and just listen to the news guy when the kid is doing his routine in the middle of the gym, it sounds like he’s narrating gay porn. Eh. This is a segment that news host has been doing for years, if not close to a decade. This one was a bit longer than most, IIRC, however. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/14 "2011-01-12T05:00:37Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Yeah, that was the bad part for sure. The kid looks like the next white Harlem Globetrotter, though. Yeah…and where will that get him? Chopping wood with your hand isn’t karate. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/15 "2011-01-12T05:20:10Z")
Holy crap! Somebody sign that kid to the Washington Generals. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/16 "2011-01-12T05:20:31Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Yeah, that was the bad part for sure. The kid looks like the next white Harlem Globetrotter, though. But is he _funky_ enough to be a Globetrotter? ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/17 "2011-01-12T20:22:29Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > He’s young enough to work up to that. That’s true but i’ve way too many guys who can showboat like that when they are by themselves and can’t play worth a damn to be impressed by non-game footage. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/18 "2011-01-14T01:16:50Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > That’s true but i’ve way too many guys who can showboat like that when they are by themselves and can’t play worth a damn to be impressed by non-game footage. The video clearly shows him draining jump shots from all over the place, as well as doing a pretty good job dishing the rock playing with older kids…I suspect he can probably play nearly as well as his dribbling/showboating skills suggest. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/19 "2011-01-14T01:20:45Z")
He’s got nice form. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160/20 "2011-01-14T07:32:20Z")
In no particular order: - Given the announcer’s general level of overexcitement (and how long, apparently, he’s been doing this), I don’t think “two balls between the legs” even registered for him. Of course, if you’re not prepared to say “balls” in numerous contexts without giggling, wincing, or double-taking even once, sports commentating really isn’t the job for you. - There have been many, many MANY superkids in every endeavor you can name who accomplished diddly-squat at the pro level. Heck, there are plenty of _college_ athletes who left as glorious megastars, signed a pro contract, and blew up in about five seconds (_cough_Ryan Leaf\*cough). It’s not “too soon to tell”…you can _never_ tell. Or for that matter, if he’ll make it to the NBA at all (it’d be a disappointment if he didn’t, but hardly shocking). - If that dad has even half an ounce of compassion and good sense, he’ll teach proper money management, dealing with publicity, judging the character of others, destructive habits to avoid, and personal responsibility. Now. Every day. Even if he never plays a single game, these are valuable lessons, but given the far too many examples of young athletes wrecking their lives because they got wealth and fame without wisdom, it’d be a crime not to impart them. - A travelling show like the Harlem Globetrotters should be considered a last resort. The pay and prestige just doesn’t compare to even a marginal NBA contract. I say get the most out of your peak years, and then you can do Vegas and cruise ships for the rest of your life. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-the-kids-got-game-basketball/567160.md?page=2)