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Absolutely not.I remember the moment I realized this - it all started when this guy here was playing for the Kansas Jayhawks (KU) back in the day:Keith LangfordAka Kool Keith Langford (not to be confused with the musical artist Kool Keith), was a star on a few of the early 2000s KU Jayhawks teams. The nickname Kool Keith was a reference to how ‘cool’ he would be hitting his free throws, no matter how high the stakes were - his FT% was top tier.He played on a few star studded rosters (Drew Gooden, Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich, and Wayne Simien were all teammates of his), and yet he would still consistently be a standout on all the great teams he was a part of. He was privileged enough to play for not one, but two, future hall of game coaches in Roy Williams and Bill Self. He was a starter on these teams, and finished his career averaging about 15+ points per game, including some late game heroics on many different occasions. Not only that, but he helped his team make it to two final fours and even was on the runner-up squad in 2003 that lost at the very end of the game (to Jim Boeheim’s red-hot Syracuse team).The guy was a beast, at 6’4” and a natural lefty, he could shoot the ball extremely well, but also slash inside and take it to the hoop with ease. Check out some of these highlights:It really seemed as if he’d soon be in NBA - he had the shot, the swagger, a very low turnover percentage, and was an excellent defender. At worst, you’d think, he could at least sit bench on a team, and at best you’d think he joins a squad that he contributes to, and fall into the middle of the road stats-wise. He wasn’t projected to be a star, but I don’t think anyone thought he wouldn’t make it into the league.But nope. He just didn’t have what it took. Was a little too short for his style to adapt, and was just a bit unpolished in some other minor areas of his game. Which is ok, he was still relatively young (about 21 or 22), but a gifted athlete with a lot of promise in the professional world. Back then, you could go straight from high school to the NBA, so staying all four years of college was a much more common thing for really good college ballers that needed a bit more development before they made the leap. And he did just that, learning under a couple of the greatest coaches of all time. But apparently, he still wasn’t quite ready after graduation.So he got sent to the D-League (now called the G-League) - which is sort of like a minor league farming system for the NBA. Most players play for a couple years and then move on - either to the NBA, or elsewhere.(In his stint with the Fort Worth Flyers, Langford was a dominant player and prolific scorer, and showed much all-around improvement from his college days)Keith went and became a D-League legend. From 2005–2008, he was a top ten player in numerous categories (nine to be exact), including field goal percentage, points per game, and turnover percentage (among several more).Yet, no NBA teams wanted to sign him after his three year tenure in the minors. Aside from literally playing 9.6 minutes with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007, ultimately the league decided he wasn’t quite NBA material. He was released practically the second he arrived - I’m not sure we can even count that. I don’t think Keith would even count that…So he went to Europe to play for awhile to try and improve his game. While in Europe, I’d say he did:He was a 5x EuroLeague of the Round MVP, a two time Alphonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer Trophy winner, consistently a league top scorer (led the league in 2015–2016), and an All-EuroLeague First Team selection in 2014 (what equates to the equivalent of an all-star). He’s held such various records in his career as top scorer, most points per game, also a Russian League champion, Greek League champion, VTB League champion, and Israeli League champion. He’s amassed numerous honors and awards for his outstanding play, and is viewed as one of the best players to play in Europe in his time span. There’s just far too many all-time achievements to list here.Seriously, read his lists of accolades next time you have a couple minutes:Keith Langford - WikipediaKeith Langford G-League Stats | Basketball-Reference.comNow look, I understand the NBA is far better than any European Leagues, and I also understand that being the best in the G-League doesn’t automatically mean you’ll make the NBA, but wow - he’s so talented and consistently amazing at every level he’s had a chance to prove himself. He’s succeeded at the college level, he’s succeeded at the minor league level, he’s succeeded in the euro pro level, and he still isn’t good enough to play in the NBA. Again, two final fours, championships at practically every league he’s played in overseas, and a list of awards over a mile long over the past 15 years. That’s insane. It’s not like he’s the only American over there either, that’s where all the other NBA’s initial rejections would go, and the homegrown competition in Europe has actually improved vastly over the last 30 years.What he’s done in his career is no walk in the park, the guy is a winner. Yet, still not even good enough to sit on the bench and get paid the league minimum to practice with team starters. In fact I’m willing to bet he’s better than many people in the league doing just that, which adds yet another layer of luck or happenstance. You just really never quite know what any particular NBA team’s specific needs are any given year. For Keith, he just simply never had the opportunity to prove himself in the right setting; at the right time.And to think, for every Keith Langford out there, there’s probably hundreds (thousands?) of others just like him: a true champion at every level of the sport just outside of our national basketball league.So is it easy to make it to the NBA?Hell no.

The greatest gesture of respect by a professional athlete that I will see in my life time took place in 2001. Understanding the significance of the gesture requires some understanding of the unwritten and written “code” of hockey. The Stanley Cup is the greatest treasure in the universe to pro hockey players. Many won’t even lift the Conference Championship trophies after punching their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals because the Campbell Bowl (Western) and Prince of Wales Trophy (Eastern) aren’t the end prize. Players won’t touch the Stanley Cup until they win it. Winning the cup earns teammates some team party time and consumption of surely mind-boggling amounts of champagne from it, and a single day to have it to yourself to enjoy with your family/friends/hometown or whatever/whoever you choose to share it with anywhere on the globe.However, first it must be physically awarded to your team captain by the commissioner. Captaining a team to a Cup victory is a notch above all notches in ones belt and leading your guys through the war that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs earns you the right to skate with it first. The Captain is the first to lift it above his head and then it gets passed from player to player based on a mysterious pecking order that is difficult to explain even on a good day, but always the Captain raises it first.2016201520142013I can keep going down the list but I’m sure you can see by now that there is little change to the way lifting the Cup goes down year after year… except for 2001.Joe Sakic was the Captain of the 2001 Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche. It was the both the Avalanche and Sakic’s second Stanley Cup victory, as he had previously Captained the team to victory in the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals. The compelling story that was a focal point throughout the 2001 playoffs was that of Sakic’s teammate, Raymond Bourque. Bourque played his first 20 seasons and the majority of his 21st with the Boston Bruins. His career accomplishments as a Bruin are nothing short of hockey-God-like.Retired third (second among defencemen), and is currently eighth (fourth among defencemen), in career games played with 1,612.Retired second, and is currently fourth, in career assists with 1,169; this is still a record for defencemen.Is eleventh in career points scored with 1,579.Is first in career points scored by a defenceman with 1,579.Is first in career goals scored by a defenceman with 410.The career leader in shots on goal with 6,206, nearly one thousand ahead of the second leading shooter, Marcel Dionne.Led the NHL in shots in 1984, 1987, and 1995.Holds the NHL record for most shots on goal in one game with 19 (Mar. 21, 1991)Is third in career cumulative plus-minus with 528, behind Larry Robinson and Orr.Won the Calder Memorial Trophy (rookie of the year) in 1980Won the Norris Trophy (best defenceman) in 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, and 1994.Won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy (best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution in his community) in 1992.Received the Lester Patrick Trophy (outstanding service to hockey) in 2003.Named a NHL First Team All-Star in 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 2001.Named a Second Team All-Star in 1981, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1995 and 1999.Became only the sixth defenceman in professional history to score 30 goals in a season (1984).Became only the third defenceman in professional history to reach the 1,000 NHL points milestone (1992)Is the Bruins' all-time career leader in games played (1,518), assists (1,111) and points (1,506), also ranking fourth in goals and first in assists with a single team (any position).Registered his 1,528th point Oct. 25, 2000, vs. Nashville, passing Paul Coffey as the NHL's career leader among defencemen.Registered his 1,137th assist Dec. 21, 2000, vs. L.A. Kings, passing Coffey for second place on the NHL's career assists list and first among defencemen.Named to play in the All-Star Game for the 19th consecutive season, passing Wayne Gretzky for the league record, 2001; Bourque also appeared in the All-Star Game in every season that it was held during his career (there was no game in 1987 or 1995).Was named the Most Valuable Player of the All-Star Game in 1996.Is third all-time in playoff assists and tenth all-time in playoff points.Won the NHL All-star Game Shooting Accuracy Competition in 1990, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.In 1998, three years before the end of his career, he was ranked number 14 on The Hockey News' list of the one hundred greatest hockey players of all time. He was the highest-ranking player who had not yet won a Stanley Cup, the next highest being No. 38-ranked Marcel Dionne.However, he had yet to win the Stanley Cup and when the Bruins fell out of playoff contention in 1999–2000, he asked to be traded to a Cup contender (the Philadelphia Flyers were his first choice.) Boston GM Harry Sinden, who wanted badly to help Bourque get a chance to win the cup at the end of his career, opted to trade him to the Colorado Avalanche at the trade deadline a month prior to the end of the 1999–2000 season and is quoted as saying “this may not be your first choice, but this is the team I feel is best.” Colorado made it to Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals in 2000, in which Bourque hit a goal post with a potentially game-tying shot late in a 3–2 game. They were eliminated by the Dallas Stars who went on to win the Cup. Bourque returned to Colorado for the full 2000–2001 season, but it was widely suspected that he would retire at seasons end. In true storybook fashion, Colorado clinched the 2001 Stanley Cup in game seven, defeating the New Jersey Devils. The victory earned Ray Bourque his first Stanley Cup on the last day of his professional career, after waiting longer than any player in the 108 year history of the Stanley Cup to win his first (1612 games.)When the Stanley Cup was presented to Colorado’s team captain, Sakic yielded in a way no player ever has or probably ever will again in the sport of hockey. I will leave you with the video to view yourself, as words cannot describe how immense the gesture of absolute respect by Sakic really is.

I’ll give it a go - bare in mind that this will be a long, detailed answer;Positions - You have 5 positions on an NBA team. Each position has an abbreviation which makes it easier and quicker to recognise.PG stands for point guard; this person is almost always the shortest player in the starting lineup and is usually the primary ball handler. When referring to a PG you would say that they play at the 1-spot. Some PG’s are known for their passing abilities while others are known for their scoring abilities and speed. Examples include Stephen Curry (Warriors), Kyrie Irving (Cavaliers) and Chris Paul (Clippers).SG stands for shooting guard; this person is usually the secondary scorer on the team (depending on their skill-set) and they usually don't handle the ball on offence like PG’s do. You would refer to this player as the 2-guard, or someone who plays in the 2-spot. Examples of anomalies include James Harden (Rockets), Dwyane Wade (Bulls) and Klay Thompson (Warriors) who vary in their approaches to the game.SF stands for small forward; this person is usually the most diverse person on the team. You refer to these players as the 3-spot, or wing-players. They can be fast, strong, excellent on defence and/or offense and can be the number one option for scoring. Players like Lebron James (Cavaliers), Kevin Durant (Warriors) and Kawhi Leonard (Spurs) are examples of dominant SF’s.PF stands for power forwards; you can get two types of power forwards. Both of them are referred to as playing at the 4. Natural PF’s are usually the ones that concentrate more on the defensive end - things such as rebounding, blocks etc. Players like this include Anthony Davis (Pelicans) and Kevin Garnett (Timberwolves until recently retiring).Then you have ‘stretch-fours’ that are better on offense and can shoot threes unlike many other PF’s. They are known as stretch-fours because the defenders have to come out of the paint to defend them and this therefore ‘stretches’ the defence. Players like this include Kevin Love (Cavaliers) and Ryan Anderson (Rockets)C stands for Center; this person is usually the anchor on the defensive end and is usually the tallest person on the team. Their position is referred to as the 5-spot. They are meant to be the best in terms of rebounding and blocks (due to height and position on the floor) and can also dominate in the paint on offense.Traditional centers are the big guys (6″11/7″+ tall) that can't really shoot apart from in the paint. Examples include Andre Drummond (Pistons) and Deandre Jordan (Clippers). They are also renowned for shooting quite poorly from the free-throw line although this is not the case for all big men. Other big men such as Demarcus Cousins (Kings) can also shoot from the outside, have a mid-range game, and also shoot well from the line.Teams to watch;The big, obvious one will be the Golden State Warriors. They set the record last year for most wins in a season (73–9 for the season), have the back-to-back MVP and signed multiple-time scoring champion Kevin Durant in free agency. They'll be tough to stop and can shoot the lights out from three. Anything less than a championship will be unacceptable.The next obvious team is the Cleveland Cavaliers. Winning the previous years championship after being down 3–1 in the finals against the 73–9 Warriors will usually get you some attention around the league. Add Lebron James and Kyrie Irving into the mix and you have a team that will most probably face Golden State in the NBA Finals for the 3rd straight year.I’ll mention a few teams in one as they all will be interesting to watch for the same reasons. New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder. All three teams went through dramatic changes over the offseason. The Knicks formed their own version of what they think is a super-team. The Heat lost Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson and Luol Deng amongst others. The Thunder lost Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka but got back Oladipo and Ilyasova. It'll be interesting to see how these teams perform with their new lineups.There are many other teams that will be interesting to watch but i’ll save that for another day!Players to watch for;I’ll start with Russell Westbrook who is the PG for the Thunder because - as mentioned above - his team went through a massive overhaul this season and he lost his two supporting players. He put up amazing numbers last year and that was with Durant on the team. Expect him to be dunking more, assisting more, getting more triple doubles… basically doing more of everything (including more turnovers). Expect him to be in the MVP voting at the end of the season assuming he stays healthy.Another PG; Stephen Curry. You can't make a list of players to watch without including the back-to-back MVP and single season leader in 3-point FGM for the past few years (breaking his own record every year). He averaged a 50–40–90 season last year (shot 50% on all FG attempts, 40% on all threes and 90% from the free throw line) whilst averaging over 30 points a game. Says it all really.Karl Anthony Towns; for a player that has just finished his first season he's already been compared to some big names. He's already shown he can score from all over the court and can rebound and blocks shots. He has a great head coach in Tom Thibado and he has an excellent core of young players around him - the main one being the previous years’ Rookie of the year Andrew Wiggins. Expect even higher numbers from him this year and a better season record for the Wolves.Same as before, there are many great players that I've missed, but I don't want to drag on too much (I know this answer is long enough as it is). I digress.Format and how it works;There are 30 teams in the NBA altogether. These teams are spilt into 2 conferences; The Eastern Conference and The Western Conference. Each conference has three divisions with 5 teams per division. The Eastern conference features;The Atlantic Divison which consists of the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76′ers.The Central Division which consists of the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers and Detroit Pistons.The Southeast Divison which consists of the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat (go Miami!), Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic.The Western Conference features;The Northwest Divison which consists of the Portland Trailblazers, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves.The Pacific Division which consists of the Golden State Warriors (boooo!), Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns.The Southwest Divison which consists of the raining 5 western conference teams. The Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks.In September 2015, the NBA announced changes to the method used to determine the format of the 2016 NBA Playoffs. The top eight teams in each conference, ranked in order by win-loss records, qualify for the playoffs. The tie-break criteria for playoff seeding and home-court advantage have also changed; head-to-head results between the tied teams is the first tie-breaker, and whether a team won its division championship is the second tie-breaker.These seedings are used to create a bracket that determines the match-ups throughout the playoffs. Once the playoffs start, the bracket is fixed; teams are never "reseeded". The first round of the NBA playoffs - known as the conference quarterfinals - consists of four match-ups in each conference based on the seedings (1–8, 2–7, 3–6, and 4–5).The four winners advance to the second round - the conference semifinals - with a match-up between the 1–8 and 4–5 winners and a match-up between the 2–7 and 3–6 winners. The two winners advance to the third round - the conference finals. The winner from each conference will advance to the final round - the NBA Finals.All rounds are best-of-seven series. Series are played in a 2–2–1–1–1 format, meaning the team with home-court advantage hosts games 1, 2, 5, and 7, while their opponent hosts games 3, 4, and 6, with games 5–7 being played if needed. Since 2014, the NBA finals are also played in a 2–2–1–1–1 format, after NBA team owners unanimously voted to the change away from a 2–3–2 format on October 23, 2013. The bracket looks like the one below;Slang:There are many, many slang terms used in the NBA and it would take a while for me to write them all therefore i’ve provided the link to the official NBA page of slang.Basketball U on Hoops LingoFamous Players:Most people view the famous players in the NBA as role models. Players such as Lebron James and Chris Paul do lots of work for their communities and are always up-to-date with national affairs such as BLM (black lives matter).Younger players aspire to be like these famous faces. Last year some rookies had the chance to play alongside veterans and had the chance to learn first hand experience about the NBA. The picture below is from NBA media day last year where the rookies had photos with the team veterans;Predictions:Championship prediction - for this year I expect the Cavs and Warriors to face off for the third straight year in the NBA finals and I expect the Warriors to win the championship. I think the Warriors will do well but won't beat the record they set last year going 73–9. I think that teams like the Celtics, Thunder, Wolves etc will have better seasons than people are planning for.Award predictions - I expect Westbrook, Lebron, Curry/Durant, Leonard, Lillard, Cousins, Harden to be candidates for MVP.I expect Hassan Whiteside, Draymond Green, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, KAT to be contenders for the DPOTY award.I expect Hassan Whiteside, Deangelo Russell, Ramon Rondo, Andrew Wiggins to be in the MIP race.I expect Gregg Poppovich, Steve Kerr, Tyrone Lue, Brad Stevens and Erik Spoelstra to be in the COTY conversation.I finally expect Zach Randolph, Jamal Crawford, Dion Waiters, Enes Kanter to be up for the Six Man of the year award.A LOT of effort went into this answer so I hope it helps!