This is how we're supposed to feel about AAU basketball. It codifies the process of using young, talented athletes to create financial gain for those in power. It also fails to teach players basic fundamentals, and places value on games instead of practice and individual play instead of teamwork.

All of which is, at best an, oversimplification. It ignores the fact thatAAU basketball has been unrelentingly successful at developing players — thanks to many dedicated (and honest) coaches — and, more importantly, has created a system that elevates players out of difficult circumstances and into the world of college coaches giving out scholarships and chances to play in front of millions upon millions of people — and dozens of pro scouts. 

This machine is greased by money from shoe companies, and this is one of those supposed conflicts of interest. It’s true: Nike and Under Armour and Adidas are sponsoring these programs in hopes that top players will wear their shoes in college — by committing to a school they have an apparel deal with — and that the very best will want to sign long-term endorsement deals when they get to the pros.

It’s a big-money, high-stakes game. A very serious business.

Only a few players go that route, though. And they all have teammates, many of them from the toughest neighborhoods of Oakland or D.C. or Indianapolis or Chicago who are good enough to play at Southern Illinois or Pepperdine or Coppin State or any of the literally hundreds of lesser-known schools looking for talent.

Given how corrupt college basketball is on the whole, are we really worried that sneaker companies are making all of this happen? And do we really believe that high school basketball — largely funded by local tax bases and too often coached by whichever teacher is willing to dedicate too much time for too little money — is a better way to make this all work? That’s nonsense.

As for the argument over whether AAU has devalued the time-honored process of pretending you’re in the movie “Hoosiers” and learning how to bounce pass before you dunk, we need look no further than the national championship game. Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow were sloppy. In the biggest game of the season they were too often out of position on defense and out of control on offense. It was a perfect example of two players who hadn’t mastered the basics well enough.

And maybe we could blame AAU for that. But Okafor and Winslow had an entire season playing for Mike Krzyzewski, the most respected coach in college basketball.

If Coach K couldn’t instill those things in a whole season, how is your average coach going to do it during the course of a summer?