Bob O’Leary

The New York Times Magazine has a great cover story of Allonzo Trier, a 12-year-old basketball phenom who is already attracting a lot of attention and “handlers.” Everybody wants to help him.

Allonzo is quite a talent as the clip below shows. He works hard at the game, practicing by himself and with his AAU team for hours each day. His mother, who raises him alone, sacrifices to help him work on his game.

Needless to say, a lot of men want to help him. A high school coach gives him private coaching. Others want him to play for their AAU teams. Allonzo already has all the basketball shoes he needs and his own line of clothes. College coaches send him questionnaires, the only way the NCAA allows them to contact kids not yet in high school. Allonzo has dyslexia, so he gets tutoring help paid for by NBA star Brandon Roys’s foundation.

Of course, what do these people want out of it? Do they really want to help the young man, or do they want a piece of whatever NBA fortune that comes Allonzo’s way? Henry Abbott of ESPN’s TrueHoop casts doubt of everyone’s motives, including Roy’s.

It could be a little of both. If Allonzo’s talents were in music, would anyone question the motives of people buying him instruments and lessons? Would you not want to help out a budding Mozart or Stevie Wonder?

Yet basketball attracts its share of handlers looking for prodigies to hang onto until they make it to a major college or the NBA. Most basketball phenoms come from lower economic classes. The contrast between where they come from and the minimum NBA salary is night and day.

But unlike other sports, basketball prodigies are easier to spot. At 12-years-old, baseball players have not faced curve balls or anything close to major league pitching. Football players risk injury, and their true size and skills do not appear until high school.

But look at Allonzo in the video. Most 12-year-olds basketball players can only dribble and shoot effectively with one side of their body. Although Allonzo still favors his right side, he can do layups from both sides of the basket. He has tremendous peripheral vision and zips right past taller players.

So what do you do with a phenom like Allonzo, who seems unspoiled by the attention? Wish him well. Tell him there is more to life than basketball. Help him like Roy does with his reading skills. And cheer him on as he plays.

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