Q&A with Jonathan Abrams
Jonathan Abrams is an award winning journalist who writes for Bleacher Report. He’s a New York Times Best-Selling Author of two books: Boys Among Men and All The Pieces Matter. In his book Boys Among Men, Abrams gives a deep look at a variety of players who came straight to the NBA from high school. Although there were High School Basketball players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett, who succeeded in the NBA (financially and statistically), there were players such as Leon Smith, Lenny Cooke, and Tony Key, who showed their potential rise of social mobility and their tipping point of destruction. I had the pleasure of emailing Mr.Abrams a few questions about the book and his intake on high school basketball.

What inspired you to write this book?
I was writing feature stories for Grantland at the time and finding out that a lot of the NBA players who entered the league straight from high school had really deep, up-and-down stories of just reaching stability in the league. Shaun Livingston went through his injury while with the Clippers. Gerald Green was out of the league playing in China. Jermaine O’Neal rode the bench in Portland for years before finding stardom in Indiana.
I also graduated high school in 2001 and that year, three of the of the top four picks were high school players. Tyson Chandler was tabbed as the next Kevin Garnett and Eddy Curry as the next Shaq. Fast forward a decade later and their careers had not evolved as “experts” had expected. Those were the main factors that made me want to look into this group of players who went to the NBA from high school as a whole.
What was the best and worst part about writing this book?
I enjoy the aspects of reporting, trying to find a way to get in touch with people and unearthing stories that haven’t been told before. The thrill of reaching somebody who you’ve been trying for a while never gets old. The tougher aspect is trying to figure out when you have enough material and how to present it in a narrative that makes sense.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned?
The common response for why the NBA stopped including high school players in drafts is that for every Kobe Bryant, there is a Lenny Cooke (or someone else who didn’t mature into an NBA star). That’s not the case. Most of the players drafted from high school turned into quality NBA players who far exceeded the average career. While someone like Kwame Brown perhaps didn’t live up to the pressure of being a top overall pick, he still carved out a highly successful career if consider that his career lasted three times the length of the average player.

What is your sociological perspective on High School basketball?
I think that the phenoms we see today — whether it’s someone like Zion or someone else — are obvious future basketball stars. The NBA should get them into its system as early as possible. Someone will make money off of them no matter their age if there’s money to be made. It may as well be the player, who’s talent is often taken advantage of until he gets to the NBA.

Former NBA basketball player Stephen Jackson had a similar situation like Shawn Kemp where he left his college team(Arizona and Butler CC) without playing a single game. Why was he not talked about in the book?
He had a passage, but it was cut in the overall draft in an effort to trim down some words as his experience mirrored Kemp’s.
How Kevin Durant or Greg Oden career would’ve been if they were able to jump to the NBA from high school in 2006?
I don’t think their careers would’ve turned out too much differently. Oden still would’ve been the top pick had he come out after his high school year ended. Durant, perhaps, improved his stock more by playing a spectacular season in college.
What do you want readers to take away from this book?
This isn’t a simple issue. There are reasons for and against allowing high school players into the NBA. Overall, I think the evidence favors that players should be allowed into the NBA after high school. Many of those without college — Kobe, KG, LeBron — blossomed into the game’s largest superstars after Michael Jordan’s retirement. Back then, the infrastructures and support systems of different teams played a large role in how fast players became NBA ready. There are more of these structures — team staff ready to assist players off the court — available to players in today’s NBA and I believe the NBA should make a return to allowing high school players to enter the league.

What are some of your favorite sports books?
Breaks of The Game by David Halberstam, The Last Shot by Darcy Frey and The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron by Howard Bryant.
