Why So Many NBA Players Get in Trouble

D E N V E R, July 30 -- Sports agent Peter Schaffer looks around his Cherry Creek office at pictures of the dozens of professional athletes he's represented. Proudly displayed are images of NHL stars and NFL greats. There are no pictures of NBA players.

"They're too high-maintenance," he explains.

Schaffer refuses to represent the players because he says they have been corrupted by money and attention at an early age.

"Basketball players start getting pampered very young," he says. "Twelve- and 13-year-olds are being brought to training camps, they get free shoes, they're deemed to be special at early age."

Schaffer believes all the attention often leads them to the mistaken belief that they can do no wrong. And the teams, he says, refuse to discipline their players.

"You've got to keep your player happy," says Schaffer. "If you don't, then he's going to say, 'I'm not going to play for the L.A. Clippers when my contract expires, I'm going to go to Denver, Milwaukee, or San Antonio.' "

Here Comes Trouble

In recent years, the NBA and trouble seem to have become synonymous. In the past year alone, some of the biggest names in basketball — Jerry Stackhouse, Marcus Fizer, Darrell Armstrong, Allen Iverson and Glenn Robinson — have all had run-ins with the law.

So many members of the Portland Trail Blazers have had problems with the law in recent years, sneering sports commentators have begun calling them the "Jail Blazers."

Some players have been charged with spousal abuse, others have been caught carrying guns, while still others have gotten into brawls with police.

To counter the trend, the NBA sends rookie players each summer to a seminar that doles out advice on how to avoid trouble. Role playing is a major component, and off-the-court advice on how to deal with money, fame, and sexual situations is featured. Sexual conduct is high on the list, especially since the Kobe Bryant case sent shivers across the professional sports landscape.

The classes, however, have had only modest success.