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David Stern's been talking seriously about developing a real NBA minor league; a league where teams could send young players down, get them some playing time, and recall them when they felt they were ready to contribute. This would be the best thing to happen to the NBA since the phase-out of prune-smuggling shorts.

Why is it such a great thing? Because of the following two statements.

1) Young basketball players deserve a chance to get paid.

2) Young basketball players are dragging down the quality of the NBA.

If a business is willing to pay a guy for their ability, or the promise of future ability, I don't see why the young man should be denied the opportunity. If someone like Britney Spears can make millions as a teenager by showing her ass and propagating the idea of young women as nothing more than sex toys, no one should have a problem with a young kid pocketing a few mil because he's got a tight jump shot. An age limit really isn't fair. Everyone's got a right to their hustle, be it basketball, music, accounting, or interpretive dance.

Problems arise, however, because these guys may have all the athletic ability in the world, but their games are just not NBA ready.

Yeah, Lebron and Carmelo are great, but there's only two of them. For every drafted player that can come in play at a high level as a rookie, there are 20 that can't. Teams are forced to play them, though, because they've made such a big investment in them, and they've got nowhere else to send them. In turn, they take a roster spot away from a veteran who could still contribute, and at the end of the day, the product we see in our arenas and on our TVs is made worse because we're watching guys who are now stumbling around the paint wondering why the same moves that worked against the captain of the chess club in high school don't work on Karl Malone.

A real minor league is critical to the NBA. It solves so many problems. And I can't see why anyone, be it the league, the players union, or the players themselves, would try to block it. The league benefits because guys that aren't NBA-ready are no longer uglying up the game. TV ratings will go up when fans no longer have to watch the legendary post battles between DeSagana Diop and Chris Kaman. The union benefits because there are more roster spots for veterans and the young guys can still get paid. And there would probably be more guys getting paid because in all likelihood, the draft would be expanded since teams would actually have a place to send players they thought they could develop. The players themselves benefit because they can play against guys a little closer to their own skill level and learn about life as a professional basketball player, instead of either spending their time at the end of the bench or having their confidence shattered on the floor. Fans would benefit because there would be a minor league worth watching, with players they're interested in seeing. And I'd benefit because I could then make jokes about the minor league club in Dubuque being able to beat the Bulls.

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Candace Parker won a high school dunk competition, and that's really sweet and everything, but I don't need to hear any more about how great it is for women's basketball. It's not.

First, let me clarify that I'm glad she won. I think it's cool that she took down the guys, I really do. And if a few of those guys are having a self-esteem crisis right now because a woman went home with the trophy while all they went home with are memories of their dunk attempts clanging off the back iron, they'll learn from it and become better people because of it.

But stop calling her SheBron. Neither Candace Parker or her dunks are going to revolutionize the women's game. Stop saying that it's a step towards gender equality in the world of sports. It was a dunk. I like dunks as much as anyone else, but at the end of the day, the dunk is not among the top 5 reasons I watch basketball, and I don't care if your Aunt Wanda starts throwing down reverse tomahawks from the foul line, the dunk will never ever be a reason I tune into a women's basketball game.

Women play more of a team game based on fundamentals, execution, and good shooting. If women's basketball wants to promote itself, these are the things it should emphasize. Those are the strengths. Those are things they can say they have over the men's game. Why focus on something as inconsequential as a dunk?

I do believe in the beauty of a dunk, but I also believe we've put too much emphasis on it. Men have placed a huge emphasis on dunks because men are dumb. Watch SportsCenter and you'll probably see more highlights of the guy who had 10 points, but three dunks, than you'll see of the guy who had 15 assists and 5 steals.

That's not a good thing. If anything, women's basketball should work to prove that they're above the fascination with the dunk and that they're willing to focus on the right things. They should not aim to be more like men's basketball, and it should not aim to emphasize the same dumb things we emphasize ourselves. They're better than that.

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I've hammered Steve Francis in this space, and I'll probably do it again, but for all of you who felt like I was being too hard on him, I give you this. There is one NBA superstar for whom I would not trade Steve Francis.

Tracy McGrady.

In terms of raw talent and scoring ability, McGrady belongs in a class with Kobe, T-Mac, and Tim Duncan. In terms of team leadership, Tracy McGrady makes Eddy Curry look like Mark Messier.

After a recent game in which the Magic were romped (shocking, I know), McGrady said that the team needed to "get guys in here with a winning mentality and guys who don't take days off."

You know, I think that's a great idea. So if there's anyone on the Magic roster who's done any of the following things, they should be gone immediately:

- Talked openly about quitting during a 17-game losing streak

- Wondered aloud "what we're playing for" when the team was out of the playoff race

- Shut his season down early because of knee tendonitis, because his agent wants him to rest it for the Olympics

Was it Drew Gooden who did those things? No, it wasn't Drew Gooden. Tyronn Lue? No, not Tyronn. Juwan Howard? No... So who was it?

Oh yeah, it was team leader Tracy McGrady.

Some guys just aren't born to be leaders, and that's fine. Not everyone has to be. And McGrady may one day become a great leader, but right now, he's not. I guess it's good that he's unhappy with the way things went down this season, but McGrady calling out the attitude of his teammates is a little like Gary Busey telling Vin Baker he shouldn't drink so much. Before you criticize others, you've got to make sure you're in a position to do so. Trying to lead is pointless if you haven't given anyone a reason to follow you.

Say, for example, Kobe and T-Mac switched places. Could you imagine Kobe letting a team lose 17 in a row? I can't. In at least one of those 17, Kobe would've found a way to get a W if it cost him his life. I can't envision Kobe talking about quitting because his team was in last place. I can't imagine Kobe wondering if there was a point to competing night-in, night-out, no matter where his team was in the standings.

People can talk about McGrady's lack of a supporting cast, and maybe there's something to that, but is it worse than the supporting cast Paul Pierce has in Boston? How much worse is it than Stephon Marbury's in New York? Iverson's in Philly? And all those teams have gotten themselves into playoff races while McGrady has allowed the Magic to occupy the cellar all-season long. Teams led by Jason Terry and Jamal Crawford are even ahead of the T-Mac-led Magic. Inexcusable.

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Chris Webber is hurting the Kings. I don't know how much longer the team can handle it.

They're in a tough spot. Chris Webber is one of the league's dominant players, he's done a lot for the Kings organization, and if he wants to play, and he's been medically cleared to play, they probably owe it to him to let him play. But he's killing them.

He's running at about 50% of his normal effectiveness. He isn't running the floor, he isn't able to battle underneath, he isn't blocking shots or playing tough D. Physically, he isn't himself.

It sounds absurd, but if I was Rick Adleman, I'd at least be thinking about telling him to sit his ass down and wait for next year. Yes, he's the Kings best player. Yes, he's done a lot for the organization. But since his return, the Kings are 8-8.

A lot of their recent lackluster play can also be attributed to not having Brad Miller or Bobby Jackson available, and those two guys are obviously a huge part of the team. But the fact remains that the Kings were cruising along nicely without Webb, and with him on the floor in his current physical condition, they're playing everyone else 4 and a half on 5.

I don't know what Webb's medical report says. If it's possible for him to get closer to 100% by the time the playoffs start, it's worth it to keep him in the line-up and let him work himself back into the old Chris Webber. But if his condition isn't going to improve with a quickness, he should take it upon himself to do what's best for the team and just sit.

The Lakers just smacked the Kings in the mouth and took 1st place away from them. You don't think the Kings were just put at a huge psychological disadvantage? And worse than that, they just dropped to the 3-seed, where they'd have to play the Mavericks, who just torched them on Thursday night.

Realistically, I don't think they can tell Webb to sit, but I also don't know how realistic their chances at the NBA title are with Webber getting big minutes while he's still not close to 100%.

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M.J. Darnell runs www.themightymjd.com.