NBA role players who absolutely DOMINATED in high school.
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00:00 Ballers life has been home of some of the most legendary high school mix-bates.
00:04 Many of these players went from high school superstardom to role players in
00:08 the league and even though they may not be starting we have to remember that
00:13 making it to the league is an incredible accomplishment in itself. So today we're
00:18 gonna take a look at the six men of the NBA who absolutely dominated in high
00:22 school in the most exciting fashion.
00:27 I used to watch this man Dennis Smith before every high school game I had and
00:35 although I couldn't jump like him he really got me ready to hoop. Watch this
00:42 one. Oh! He was so different this was like the Russell Westbrook of high school
00:50 basketball. In my opinion he was the best two-foot dunking guard that we've ever
00:55 seen in high school basketball. No debate but debate me in the comments. And that
01:00 hezy he had? Very underrated. Oh my god.
01:04 Next up we got the unicorn that is Bol Bol. Now the fact that he can handle the
01:14 ball like this is an anomaly in itself. I am standing on this hill. I believe that
01:21 Bol Bol before it's all said and done will have a pretty good NBA career. Oh my
01:26 god. Sometimes all you need is the right opportunity mixed with the right
01:30 situation. But let me know in the comments what you guys think about Bol
01:33 Bol's future.
01:35 Next up we got the bucket himself Cam Reddish and according to Anthony Edwards
01:49 the hardest player he's ever had to guard. The truth is much like a lot of
01:53 NBA players Cam was just way too advanced for high school basketball. Like
01:57 his movement attached with his skill set was just too much for any high schooler
02:02 to deal with. Like no offense but imagine being this guy stuck on an island with
02:06 Cam in high school.
02:09 the epitome of 3 and D. But in his case the
02:39 D stood for dunker. Oh my god.
02:43 [Crowd noise]
02:45 [Crowd noise]
03:14 Now this man I don't even know where to start. First of all he is the biggest
03:19 guard. Shout out to my guy Nazir Kaur but this is the biggest guard. Like there
03:24 truly was no matchup in high school for this man Naz Reed. He's doing his thing
03:29 in the league right now. But yeah as a high school opposing coach who do you
03:33 put on this guy? The footage speaks for itself.
03:37 [Crowd noise]
03:39 Now this next one. I will never forget the first time I saw a video of him on
03:52 YouTube. I think it was in a 16-u tournament and I believe he was playing
03:57 with Quay Parker. If anybody has a link to that video drop it in the comments.
04:00 While I was watching this video I had never seen anything like Marvin Bagley.
04:05 The way he was dunking everything around the rim I just remember it shocking me.
04:10 I'm not kidding he probably had like 15 dunks that game and they were all
04:14 spectacular. Like I just remember being shocked at how easily he was dunking.
04:18 I'll never forget it as long as I live. The first time I saw Marvin Bagley on
04:22 YouTube.
04:25 [Crowd noise]
04:32 Speaking of athleticism.
04:36 Oh my god.
04:38 Bro looked like he was playing on the 8-foot goal. Pretty much all these guys
04:47 are freak athletes in this video but he has to be the most OP. Like just all
04:51 around pure athleticism.
04:55 [Crowd noise]
04:57 Kaminga is a lot of fun to watch. Next up we got Trey Mann absolute sniper. He was
05:23 in high school he still is. He's currently playing for the Oklahoma City
05:26 Thunder and that Thunder team right now is stacked so yes he has seen less
05:30 minutes. He kind of reminds me of the Anfernee Simons which is really thriving
05:35 in the league right now and I think given a good situation a little more
05:38 development I think he can reach that level of play.
05:43 [Crowd noise]
05:48 Next up we got Mo Bamba which has one of the longest wingspans in NBA history at
05:54 7'10". So he obviously does a great job at contesting shots, blocking shots,
05:59 altering shots and so far he's had a pretty up-and-down NBA career. His best
06:03 season came in 2021-2022 with the Orlando Magic where he averaged 10 points
06:09 a game, 8 rebounds a game and shot 38% from 3. He's currently playing for the
06:13 76ers and he's just trying to work himself in the rotation. Outside of the
06:17 Magic he's kind of been bouncing around so once he catches back with a team that
06:21 fits him well and he's in the rotation he's gonna play well.
06:25 [Crowd noise]
06:27 Next up we got Kevin Knox who was an absolute problem at Tampa Catholic in
06:40 high school.
06:43 Went to Kentucky, did his thing and got drafted in the first round ninth overall
06:49 to the New York Knicks. He started off his first year with the Knicks pretty
06:55 strong actually. He was averaging 12 a game and shooting 35% behind the arc. For
06:59 the next three years his minutes continued to go down with the Knicks and
07:02 they kind of lost faith in him. But the Pistons just picked him up this year and
07:05 he's starting to break the rotation. At 17 minutes a game he's averaging 8 points
07:09 a game shooting 37 from behind the arc. Just like a lot of other players he just
07:13 needs the right situation he's got a lot to offer.
07:17 [Crowd noise]
07:19 Next up we got Cam Thomas. When he heats up he turns into one of the best scorers
07:30 in the league. I might be exaggerating a little bit but he's really having a
07:33 great year for the Nets. Averaging 20 a game shooting 45 from the field and 35
07:38 from behind the arc.
07:41 [Crowd noise]
07:43 Yo this was crazy. Turn him all the way around back it up and then just go score
08:03 as easy as that. Next up we're looking at Taelan Horton Tucker. Fun fact about him
08:07 a 6'4" guard with a 7'1" wingspan. That's pretty crazy.
08:12 If you look at his first five years in the league he's gotten a little better
08:18 every year. Starting off averaging 5.7 in his second year he averaged 9 in his
08:23 third year 9.9 in his fourth year 10.7 and this year is currently averaging 11
08:28 points a game. Next up Jaden Hardy. Before I get into anything just watch this.
08:36 Jaden went in the second round 37th pick overall to the Dallas Mavericks and
08:40 after two years with the Mavs he's averaging 15 minutes a game 8 points a
08:44 game shooting just around 40 from the field. Excited to see how he develops and
08:50 if this is the best situation for his game but definitely off to a solid start
08:54 I would say.
08:56 Next up we got Jared Vanderbilt was drafted by the Nuggets and it took him
09:25 three years in the NBA to really start seeing any kind of substantial minutes.
09:29 Through his first three years in the league he averaged two minutes a game. In
09:32 his fourth year he went to Minnesota where it jumped to 17 minutes a game
09:36 where he averaged five points a game shooting 60% from the field. He's really
09:41 struggled from behind the arc in his career. With that being said when you
09:44 watch him play you see the kind of impact he has. He's a great defender and
09:48 he hustles man so I really like his game. If he can ever get that three point
09:52 percentage up which it is going up every year he's gonna be a really good role
09:56 player in the NBA. Next up we're looking at Cole Anthony which we found out could
10:07 absolutely fly in his high school days at Oak Hill. Now in my opinion Cole's had
10:17 a very good start to his NBA career. In four years with the Magic he's averaging
10:21 27 minutes a game 14 points a game shooting 41 from the field and 35 from
10:26 behind the arc along with four rebounds and four assists. Cole normally has a pretty
10:30 big imprint on the Magic success and year by year he honestly just keeps
10:34 getting a little better so I'm excited to see where his ceiling is.
10:39 and last but not least we have RJ Hampton the high school sensation that
11:06 decided to go play overseas in the NBL instead of going to a college. In his
11:10 first year with the Orlando Magic he averaged 25 minutes a game 11 points a
11:15 game shooting 44 from the field and 31 behind the arc. So a pretty good first
11:20 year man but he just hasn't been able to find his fitting in the best situation
11:23 for him since then so it's kind of been up and down for him ever since but just
11:27 like the rest of these players on this list they're all high level players that
11:30 maybe just need the right situation and the confidence to go with it for them to
11:34 really get the most out of themselves we're rooting for all of them and I
11:37 think they'll all figure it out at some point.
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