There was “little known” about Overtime Elite in the basketball world “until a few months ago, when the basketball program designed to train and prepare players for college and the pros produced two lottery draft picks,” according to Gary Washburn of the BOSTON GLOBE. Overtime Elite is a program, prepping players in its Atlanta-based facility with the “option of bouncing to a college program or the NBA.” The GM of Overtime Elite is a “familiar name for NBA fans.” Damien Wilkins is the nephew of Dominique and son of Gerald and “played 10 years in the NBA.” He has been with the Overtime Elite program “since it began in 2021.” Wilkins said they have “come in, disrupted, done things differently, and fought criticism.” Wilkins said that the success of the Thompson twins “has brought a flood of other parents bringing their kids to Overtime Elite.” But Wilkins said that the program’s job “is not to tell them what they want to hear.” The Thompson twins’ rise “is not normal,” and not every Overtime Elite kid “is going to become a lottery pick, let alone make an NBA roster.” Wilkins: “We’d be lying if we told them that we promise that they’re going to be a pro when they leave here. And many of them want that but then they also ask us to be honest with them, so we’ve got to be honest.” Washburn wrote Overtime Elite “will be expected to produce more NBA players.” Wilkins said that the staff “understands the increased expectations, especially with a documentary debuting soon on Amazon about the program and the rise of the Thompsons” (BOSTON GLOBE, 8/26).
