Kelvin Sampson takes aim at today's "cone generation" of players: "Let these kids get their head knocked off"

University of Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson made an interesting point during his recent appearance on the "All The Smoke" podcast.

When asked about his thoughts on today's generation of basketball players, Sampson said that the development of young players is slower because they rely too much on workouts rather than playing actual basketball.

"You have to play basketball," said Sampson. "And I'm not saying anything against the guys working them out. They need that. They need to work on their shooting. They need to work on their ball handling. That is not an issue at all. But we've become a 'cone generation' where they put cones out there, and they're making them run around there, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that either."

"Go play five-on-five more"

Although the 70-year-old Sampson never made it to the NBA as a player, he was an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks from 2008 to 2011 and the Houston Rockets from 2011 to 2014, before returning to the NCAA scene to coach the University of Houston.

With a basketball experience spanning six decades, Sampson has witnessed multiple eras. For him, today's specialized training regimens and individual workouts may be doing young players more harm than good, to the point where he feels they stunt their growth.

"I'm just saying, let these kids go out there and get their head knocked off a little bit," he added. "Let them get into a gap, and the defense comes, so they can make a decision. The wing is being pressured or overplayed, and the guy's up on my butt, and I'm out here dribbling, trying to figure out how to do that. You don't get that zero on one or one on zero."

"At what point do we bring back the black court? At what point do we say we've got next? Go play five-on-five more. You can't become a better basketball player until you learn how to play," Sampson concluded.

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KD had a similar take

Sampson's argument is supported by an admission from Kevin Durant, who stated that from the ages of 19 to 24, he honed his skills by playing pickup basketball, four to five games per day, four days a week. He said playing against different types of people made him a better basketball player faster than his peers.

"I'm just hooping against people of different sizes, shapes, guards, bigs, I'm just working on my game playing pick up. I look back, and that was just way more beneficial to me than just getting in the gym and working out by myself," Durant revealed.

"So much as I can, play ones, twos, threes, pick up, I think that made me better quickly, fast, and gave me confidence. Hoop as much as possible, play five on five against live bodies. That's more beneficial than just working out by yourself all the time," the legendary forward added.

Experience is the best teacher. For basketball players, it is earned better through playing the game rather than simulating it in workouts. As Sampson put it, players don't develop decision-making skills by competing against cones.

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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Nov 27, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.