Curriculum

The NBA Basketball School curriculum has been developed to help players, parents, coaches, and organizations better understand the process of improvement. The curriculum is a developmentally-based progression that depends on players mastering new skills before advancing to the next level. It’s not based on a player’s age, but rather on his or her proficiency at key skills.

In the first four levels of the curriculum, coaches will focus on teaching student-athletes the basic fundamentals of the game of basketball, and will use a skill progression checklist that helps players advance through developmental levels. As they progress through each level, players will be challenged by increasing the level of difficulty and intensity of the drills. This approach helps players to continually develop and enjoy the positive reinforcement of mastering new skills.

After completing the first four levels, student-athletes advance to an elite level of player development. This second stage focuses on the advancement and mastery of basketball skills learned throughout the first four stages, while placing significantly more focus on team concepts and competition. Coaches will introduce more complex basketball techniques, concepts and tactics that are commonly used in elite high school, university, and professional basketball programs.