neat story

Van Mil started eight games in 2006 in the Gulf Coast League as a first-year professional from Oss, Noord-Brandt, the Netherlands.

...

Van Mil used to wear, quite often, a T-shirt that had his height on the front and the words, "No, I don't play basketball" on the back.

And, no, he did not play basketball as a youth in the Netherlands.

"I was a 7-footer at 15," Van Mil said. "If I went to high school here (in the United States), they probably would have made me play. I chose to play baseball when I was 7. I never really got into other sports

Why didn't he play basketball? The Netherlands has some good leagues/players. They are all so freaking tall.

Maybe he just didn't like Basketball. I mean, just because you might be good at a sport doesn't mean you have to enjoy it. I mean, if he likes Baseball, why not play baseball?

In 2008 he and Chris Cates were on the same team in Beloit the Twins minor leagues. Cates is 5'2". There's a great picture in this article about the pair.


EDIT: OK, after RTFA the new pic is better but Cates is listed as being 5'3". What gives?

Why didn't he play basketball?

You might get turned off too if you grew up having people call you "the next Rik Smits"

aleskel, that was well played.

i read somewhere about how lots of NBA players actually don't like to play basketball. i mean, i don't know how true that is, but i've certainly never read that about baseball players (although it certainly seems like jeff kent didn't like to play), and i'm surprised i've never heard that about pro football players, which i would expect. so why basketball?

Clearly you have never asked JP Ricciardi about Adam Dunn.

Keith Foulke didn't like baseball that much, said he preferred hockey. During much of 2005 many Bostonians wished he joined his true calling.

i read somewhere about how lots of NBA players actually don't like to play basketball. i mean, i don't know how true that is, but i've certainly never read that about baseball players (although it certainly seems like jeff kent didn't like to play), and i'm surprised i've never heard that about pro football players, which i would expect. so why basketball?

I'm sure there are a ton of guys in football who don't actually like it. However, when a huge chunk of the league are bench players making the league minimum on non-guaranteed contracts, it's probably not the smartest idea to draw attention to the fact that you don't much like the game.

I'd guess it's also partially masked by the general lack of interest in individuals in football - if you're not a star QB, RB, WR, or pass rusher, you're probably not going to be asked too many questions by the sports media. It's the team as a whole which draws the most attention, as personified by the coach.

I've heard this a lot. But it isn't just baseball. I mean, I know people in all jobs that would prefer to be in some other job and aren't because of economics, lack of skill, or both. I mean, I'd rather be a pitcher than a professor. I don't see a big deal here.

yes, it would seem so. but i'm talking about players griping anonymously not publicly. i guess i should try to remember where i read this, it was a comment to the effect that 'there are so many nba players who really just don't like the game and are just playing because its what they can do' or something like that, implying they were sick of it.

this is in response to 9.

i've certainly never read that about baseball players (although it certainly seems like jeff kent didn't like to play),

I recall that during the 80s, Bob Horner and Kevin McReynolds were often portrayed as guys who weren't exactly passionate about playing ball. It definitely seems to be rarer in baseball than basketball, although I imagine that has more to do with the clubhouse culture that surrounds the game more than anything else.

I mean, I know people in all jobs that would prefer to be in some other job and aren't because of economics, lack of skill, or both.

Sounds right. There are a lot of jobs which seem fun, until you have to put up with it day in and day out, year after year. I know a lot of people who would like to get into my field but, being in my field, I also know a hell of a lot of people who would like to get out of it.

With that being said, I think I could probably handle the drudgery of being a professional athlete for a couple of years....

I often get this feeling that 70% of the people playing Golf or Tennis absolutely hate it and are only doing it because their parents forced them to.

Similarly, I remember a Female Basketball player (can't remember if it was College or WNBA) quit earlier this year simply because she hated the sport, even though she was one of the best at it.

Wasn't Robin Yount the only who talked about quitting baseball for golf? I'm not sure if that's because of a dislike (at the time) for baseball, an insane love for golf, or possibly a little bit of both.

again, its just funny that basketball players stick out in my recollection. look at kareem. he always seemed to project an aura of wishing he was somewhere else until magic sort of motivated him.
russell too. he was so clinical about the game, and always seemed willing to talk about other stuff. i guess anybody would look disinterested compared to auerbach though.

maybe its just me. i'm so nuts about baseball i can't imagine a major leaguer not being utterly jazzed about playing.

Similarly, I remember a Female Basketball player (can't remember if it was College or WNBA)

Elena Delle Donne. She was the #1 recruit last year and backed out of her UConn scholarship to play volleyball at her hometown U of Delaware. She's going to play basketball next year though, she recently decided.

Also, how is Kareem a guy that didn't like basketball? why would he have played 20+ years and been a coach after retirement (he currently is an assistant/Bynum coach with the Lakers) if he didn't like it? He was just a sour guy, he would have been a sour guy no matter what he was doing.

I thought Ricky Williams didn't like football (or at least, playing it competitively), he only played it because he was good at it. I seem to recall him saying as much when he retired at such a young age. It makes sense really. Being a child prodigy would mean a lot of people (family, friends, coaches/teachers) had attached their dreams to yours, so you would be kind of forced to keep doing whatever it was you were great at, even if you stopped liking it at some point.

Plus, there would be the normal stuff about having devoted your life to something you can make a good living at and finding out you didn't like it. It would be hard to throw it all away and try something else, something you'd probably have to start at the bottom of.

i didn't mean to imply that kareem didn't like to play. it just looked that way sometimes.

and you make a good point about the prodigy thing and the expectations of others. i went through something like that with my son. he was the star of the drama dept. at his high school, so i encouraged him to major in theater in college, and he dropped out of the program after a semester and changed majors. it didn't dawn on me until then that he just didn't like acting all that much anymore.

I think basketball is also the sport where, more than any other, some physical feature a person randomly has may make them good at that sport even without a lot of time practicing (relatively speaking).

In baseball, physical talent will get you far, but it also takes LOTS of practice and work and more practice to refine the numerous skills it takes to succeed. Not too many people will put in that much effort without at least moderately enjoying the sport. And the physical gifts required are not necessarily obvious by looking at a person.

In basketball, however, just by being tall, not only are you already better than most at the sport, but everyone will pressure you to play. Additional skills needed are not huge - think of all the big slow guys that have played center over the years that did nothing but be tall and take up space. I can much more easily imagine someone not thrilled with basketball succeeding than in baseball.

Also, baseball rules.

In basketball, however, just by being tall, not only are you already better than most at the sport, but everyone will pressure you to play. Additional skills needed are not huge - think of all the big slow guys that have played center over the years that did nothing but be tall and take up space. I can much more easily imagine someone not thrilled with basketball succeeding than in baseball.

The Raptors absolutely threw away a pick on Rafael Araujo, almost entirely on the basis of his height. It was one of the most fantastically stupid decisions in the history of sports.

I saw somewhere there is a 7' 3'' Basketball player in one of the many Minor Leagues (ABA, Premier League Basketball, etc). Some Chinese guy.

And he isn't very good.

In junior high, I knew a kid who was 6'4" or something who hated basketball and refused to play it, even in gym class. The basketball coach, who was also the asst. principal, basically forced him to join the team: he would intentionally throw the ball away or take bad shots until they finally let him quit.

#20 is what I think. I would only offer that football is the second most likely sport to find the physical freaks getting by, and that seems to correspond with some of the upstream anecdotes.

The Raptors absolutely threw away a pick on Rafael Araujo, almost entirely on the basis of his height. It was one of the most fantastically stupid decisions in the history of sports.

Hyperbole - lousy pick, but it's not like he was the only tall guy in the draft (or unusually tall). They just picked the wrong big man... (cheap shots at Araujo deleted)

I saw somewhere there is a 7' 3'' Basketball player in one of the many Minor Leagues (ABA, Premier League Basketball, etc). Some Chinese guy.
And he isn't very good.

Do you mean the 7-9 guy who has bounced around low level minor leagues and overseas? He (IIRC) was a part of the "world's tallest lineup" a USBL briefly put on the floor a few years back - average height of, like, 7-3 or something. (Sun Ming Ming?)

Keith Foulke admitted that he didn't really like baseball and he only played because he was good at it.

In basketball, however, just by being tall, not only are you already better than most at the sport, but everyone will pressure you to play. Additional skills needed are not huge - think of all the big slow guys that have played center over the years that did nothing but be tall and take up space. I can much more easily imagine someone not thrilled with basketball succeeding than in baseball.

NO ####### WAY. NO.

That is certainly true in high school and then to a slightly lesser extent in college, but that is not at all the case for NBA players. There are just so few players - roughly 500 players/per year IN THE WORLD can play in the NBA. Just because you are tall doesn't cut it.

And I do not buy that basketball players don't like the game as much. That is ########. I am sure there are individual cases here and there, but anybody who puts in the amount of time a professional athlete does must like what they are doing. Or they will not make the professional level.

The argument is not that basketball is easy or that players don't love the game. But there is no physical attribute that would allow me to get anywhere near a major league baseball or hockey roster, whereas being 7'3" could get me a look at D1 in basketball, and if I learn anything in four years I might get put on the Bradley/Bol/Blab plan. These guys do exist, maybe not as starters or even successful players, but certainly as experiments or gambles to see if they amount to anything. Two big differences that allow it to happen at the NBA level are the vast distance from the 12th spot on the bench to the court and because the minors are much shallower than in baseball so sometimes you end up doing more instruction at the top level team.

Look at it this way: try to imagine the career of a David Clyde in MLB today vs the increasing number of NBA players who make the jump from high school. It actually does happen in basketball and it is nearly unimaginable in baseball because the physical aspects of the game are so much more important in buckets and the skills are more important in baseball.

PS I have no hope to convince you, #27, of this because I'm fairly certain I don't feel as strongly about basketball as you appear to. It's just an observation that seems to hold true.

But there is no physical attribute that would allow me to get anywhere near a major league baseball or hockey roster, whereas being 7'3" could get me a look at D1 in basketball,

I do agree with this (although does it really apply to hockey? Are enforcers really more than extra-large men with the ability to skate?) I just take umbrage to the suggestion that the work required is not equal. The abilities required for baseball are more predicated on skill rather than raw athleticism or body type, but a lazy, slow 7' person is not making the NBA.

Look at it this way: try to imagine the career of a David Clyde in MLB today vs the increasing number of NBA players who make the jump from high school. It actually does happen in basketball and it is nearly unimaginable in baseball because the physical aspects of the game are so much more important in buckets and the skills are more important in baseball.

Not totally sure where you are going with this.