The first round of the 2024 NBA draft concludes, but what is there in it for US basketball? Turns out not much, as evident from the draft picks in the first round that concluded on Wednesday. There was an interesting trend in the selection process which, according to Eddie Johnson, is alarming for American players.

Notably, the French players dominated the first night of the 2024 NBA draft, and Johnson expressed his opinion of this in a post on X. “… This is not an accident. American ball players should view this as a clear and present danger. Parents please be more thorough on who is training your kid! @NBADraft” he wrote in the post. Not only the first two picks — Zaccharie Risacher (Atlanta Hawks) and Alex Sarr (Washington Wizards) — on the draft night were French players, but 3 of the first 6 picks were from France.

The sixth pick of the night turned out to be Tidjane Salaun by the Charlotte Hornets. Apart from this, yet another French player drafted in the league included the 25th pick by the New York Knicks, Pacome Dadiet. Speaking on the occasion, no. 1 pick Risacher stated this selection means tons not just for him but also for his country.

“I know a lot of French (people) stayed up all night to watch this, so, that’s amazing. That’s amazing for French basketball and I am so happy to be a part of something special for my country,” Risacher said, as per The Athletic. This marked the first time a country outside the US had three players selected in the top 10 of the NBA draft.

This sense of happiness has turned into a cause of concern for Eddie Johnson. However, he is not the only NBA star who has pointed out a flaw in US basketball at a rudimentary level.

Multiple NBA stars hold AAU responsible for flawed basics in basketball at an early stage

There was a time when the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) used to be a breeding ground for young talent. But it seems now it’s more about money and the unnecessary involvement of parents. Appearing on an episode of ‘Sloane Knows’ in April this year, Matt Barnes stated his belief that his kids are now in a watered-down AAU.

The ex-NBA star further mentioned when he was growing up, AAU was for the best kids. And if players were not good enough, they had no option but to play in their local league. He believes different levels — bronze, platinum, gold, silver, — that now exist have made AAU about making money. In a separate instance, Alonzo Mourning raised a similar issue on the ‘All the Smoke’ podcast.

Mourning stated he can no longer solely trust AAU for his son’s basketball growth. He even went to the extent of terming AAU basketball “tainted”. But the effect of inefficient AAU at a higher level was already pointed out by the great Kobe Bryant. The Black Mamba, as per ESPN, had termed the Union as “terrible”.

“It doesn’t teach our kids how to play the game at all, so you wind up having players that are big and they bring it up and they do all this fancy crap and they don’t know how to post. They don’t know the fundamentals of the game…” Kobe had said. While not the sole reason, the impact of the lack of the fundamentals at an early stage is now reflecting in the 2024 NBA draft first round, as feared by Eddie Johnson.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.