Feb
21, 2001
NBA
BASKETBALL Fan Editorial - - - - -
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The
Real Deal on High School Players By
LEWIS POOLE TOWSON
UNIVERSITY
BALTIMORE,
MD
In
the past few years the NBA has been widely criticized for being too
young and far less skilled than the NBA of the past. This might be
true but whose fault is it that younger players keep leaving school early
to go pro? Is it the fault of NBA teams who continue to draft younger players?
Is it the fault of the players who see the opportunity to make millions?
Is it the fault of the colleges and universities that feverishly promote
these players yet deny them a cut of the profits made off them? Is the
fault of the communities in which these players live that don’t make getting
a degree as important as it should be? Or is it the fault of the NBA as
a whole for not having limits on how old a player can be to play pro? Should
a young basketball player be ridiculed for or deterred from going pro after
he graduates high school? I think not. If an 18 year old feels that he
is ready for the NBA and knows that he will be drafted, why should he not
go? Many critics have said that young players should not turn pro
because they are not ready to play when they get in the NBA. That is a
very good point but if a team picks an 18 year old, this apparently means
that he
is
a good enough player to bring something to that team in the future if not
the present. There is also the question of whether or not the player will
be mature enough and socially prepared to deal with the ups and downs of
professional basketball. The players are warned of these issues before
and after they go in to the league, and it is up to the player to deal
with these issues. Out of the twelve high school players who have
been drafted since 1995, ten are still in the league. (It should be noted
that Stephen Jackson of the Nets who was drafted in 1997 by the Suns was
cut by the Suns and was signed this year by the Nets.) Three players are
on this years All-Star team and six of the twelve are regular starters.
This is fairly strong success rate and proves that it isn’t as bad as people
make it out to be.
Are
these men not taking their education seriously by skipping college and
going straight to the professional ranks? I don’t think so. What is the
main reason that people go to college? To acquire the knowledge and skills
to pursue the career of their choice. If your career aspirations are to
be a computer engineer and Microsoft offers you a job when you graduate
high school are you going to pass up the job offer and go to school for
four years when that is the job that you want? I doubt it. If you are doing
an internship for a major company and helping that company turn a considerable
profit, would you quit so you can get a job with another company that will
pay you a guaranteed salary? Most people don’t like working for free for
too long. These situations are similar to those of high school basketball
stars. If playing basketball is your occupational aspiration, why do it
for free when you get paid for it? The minimum salary in the NBA is around
$500,000 a year; that is plenty of money for a player to pay for tuition
at almost any school that he wants to attend.
College
basketball for the most part is a big business; of course, there are a
lot of small programs that are not profitable but for the top twenty-five
to thirty teams, this is a lucrative business bringing in millions in merchandise,
ticket sales and in TV revenue.
The
colleges and universities that make money from their basketball programs
are hurt when a player leaves early or doesn’t come at all. This is why
they are against players leaving early or skipping college all together.
Do you really think that they would care if these kids weren’t playing
basketball for these schools?
The
only way for the NBA to cut down the number of young players on NBA rosters
is to implement a minor league system for basketball players that allows
players to get paid to play ball after high school. The reason why the
NBA would prefer to not do this (but they will) is because it will cost
them more money and it would cut into the unofficial farm system of the
NBA know as college basketball. The players who are ready to play
or those that need money to help at home will be able to do so instead
of playing for free and basketball players who don’t feel that they are
really going to make it in the pros can still go to school and get their
education and play ball.
Overall
I feel that the criticism of these young men is unwarranted and that they
should be able to do what they want to do in regards of their future. If
that means going to school for four years and getting a degree, fine. If
that means going straight to the pros and making a million dollars a year
that should be acceptable as well.
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