Rumblings started more than a year ago about the arrival of a young man from Russia, a young man with ‘game’, in basketball terminology.
Of all places, he landed in Oakville, Ontario (Canada), lived with relatives and friends and attended a local Oakville high school.
Naturally, he played ball for the high school team in 2002-‘03, and word spread of his size and prowess. At 7 feet 1 inch, Ivan Chiriaev started the 2003-’04 season with a goal in mind, the seed of an ambition that had been planted some time ago.
There was talk that he had the skills to be an NBA draft choice right out of high school, something that had never previously happened to a player based in Canada.
College recruiters and pro scouts began to attend his high school team’s games and tournaments, and even their practices. The attention grew but, unfortunately, much of the media talk turned to what the young man was saying, as opposed to how we was playing.
It is far too easy, of course, to criticize a young man for any apparent slips of the tongue, especially a young man for whom English is not a first language.
Unfortunately, the comments from the young man himself throughout much of this past season seemed to suggest he was very self-impressed.
Last November, he was quoted as saying, “They (NBA scouts) say I’m like Kevin Garnett….They’re saying I’m Dirk Nowitzki, but more athletic and with better handles.”
He would say the words were not his, rather those of unnamed NBA scouts. But such utterances were seemingly put forth often enough that some observers developed the impression that he was not exactly disagreeing with the ‘comparisons’ to some of the NBA’s top performers.
This culminated in a media conference in March, 2004, apparently called by his ‘people’, at which the young athlete declared for the NBA draft and was accurately quoted as saying “The NBA wants and needs Ivan Chiriaev.” (Unfortunately, Chiriaev’s own school teammates were not allowed entry into his “press conference”, and by all accounts, the press gathering was only allowed to ask one question of him, though he did consent to some one-on-one interviews afterwards.)
This approach, clearly thought-out in advance, gave further testimony to the sense that he was not, perhaps, a team-oriented young man, and was pushing himself a little too much, and maybe a little too soon.
Clearly, there is nothing wrong with having positive self-esteem and a healthy dose of self-confidence. Perhaps his advisors encouraged him to talk himself up, in the hopes that his seeming confidence would create a desirable aura around him. Maybe he spoke on his own accord, regardless of what he was encouraged to do.
Yet we all know that words only take us so far, and at the end of the day, an athlete has to be able to back up his talk. This past year, the 19 year-old had played mostly against local competition, though he did compete against some top teams from across Toronto and Ontario, as well as some strong U.S. prep teams, in various tournaments.
But even in those situations, he did not dominate. He demonstrated some shooting ability, impressive for a big man, and some unusual ball-handling skills for someone his size. Yet he was not a dominant player, and not always a tough presence underneath the basket.
But he was a talent, clearly someone with skills who should only get better.
Earlier this May, Chiriaev played in an All-Canada high school All-Star game in Mississauga, Ontario. He led the game in scoring, and was named game MVP. But NBA scouts were evidently left under-whelmed by his efforts and conditioning.
Many were apparently saying that the young player will not be a first-round draft choice, and may not be drafted at all, though Chiriaev himself has been saying in the media for months that he has been told that he could be a lottery pick.
After the All-Star game, the Toronto Sun quoted a Chiriaev advisor as saying “Whether [Chiriaev] is a lottery pick or not, he has done more for basketball in Canada than anybody before him and maybe even ever will”.
Many who have quietly contributed lifetimes to developing young Canadian players, high school and college coaches, for example, among others – not to mention the likes of actual NBA stars such as Steve Nash – may be confused, or perhaps astounded, by that reference.
Of course it is entirely possible that, after some private workouts, an NBA will still select him as a first round draft, and provide him with the multi-million dollar contract he desires to bring his family over to North America and establish a solid future for himself and his family.
Unfortunately, now that he has hired an agent, the U.S. college option is no longer available to him should his NBA hopes not move forward just yet.
He – and his advisors – seem to have established an expectation in the marketplace such that it has become very difficult for him to meet the expectations of NBA scouts.
This begs the question: all the bravado, all the talk, was it really helpful in the end?
Where were his advisors to encourage him to perhaps take a softer stance in his public discussions about his abilities, and his future?
We often are frustrated when athletes seem to lack charisma, or have nothing to say of interest. But as important as it is to be yourself and be genuine in one’s interactions with the media, did it help this young man’s cause to be so “out there”?
History tells us over and over: If you set the bar at a modest level, and exceed that expectation, things often work out well.
If you set public expectations too high, if you promise too much and don’t deliver, you are perceived, often unfairly, as a failure of sorts.
Chiriaev is a young man who may well have an NBA career ahead of him, despite the apparent drop in his draft-appeal of late.
But you can’t help but wonder how scouts might have reacted if he had come in under the radar screen a little more, had not pronounced himself to the basketball world in such brash terms. Instead of being disappointed that he is not what he has been hyped to be by his own people, they may have appreciated, instead, a ‘diamond in the rough’ – a 19 year old with unusual size and skills for a big man. A youngster who is still struggling with a new language and a new culture. A young athlete with immense potential, someone who may be a real player down the road.
But it may be harder now to reclaim the high road than it would have been to handle things differently in the first place.
