Nerevar said:
Well, the big thing that it does is it guarantees the NBA has, more or less, a farm system. Look at how the NFL uses NCAA football. I can think of a number of high school superstars who didn't pan out in the NCAAs (best example being Ronald Curry) and the NFL was able to recognize that by watching them in the NCAAs. The NBA doesn't have that and, consequently, the draft is a big gamble. Oftentimes it works out (LeBron, Garnett, etc.), but oftentimes it doesn't (Ousmane Cisse, that guy who was big into dog fighting).
Furthermore, LeBron is really the only player who did the prep-to-pro thing and was ready to compete right away. Pretty much every player took a few years to develop - (Jermaine O'Neal was drafted by the Blazers, but didn't become a star until he played at Indy), so these guys are being payed millions for "developing" their game at the next level. Stern wants to use the NCAAs for that.
Yep...use the college system instead of investing money and making their own farm league. Funny as hell really...there's nothing noble about the NBA's stance at all.
And Jermaine's sentiments, while slightly misguided, are correct. I don't believe Stern or the NBA owners are racist, but the way the whitebred media has gone on for years about high schoolers going to the NBA while ignoring hockey (kids leave high school after grade ten to play junior hockey for a one in a thousand shot of getting drafted), tennis (if you're 23 in this sport, you're past your prime), soccer (Freddy Adu's one of the top paid players in MLS as a 15 year old, and figure skating (don't even get me started on this one), gymnastics (ditto), golf (15 year old Michelle Wie just got another exemption into a male tournament), auto racing (plenty of young drivers in both feeder and primary racing circuits who haven't even read a college brochure) and Christ knows what else, is simply slanted journalism far beyond the point of reason. And then European ball players are praised for playing basketball the right way, when you've got people joining those leagues as young as 15. To say racism isn't involved in this slanted coverage in some form is to be a complete idiot.
What's funnier is that Lebron James is pretty damn close to becoming the poster child of the league (Kobe's certainly lost with the Lakers' dismal record), when he's not even old enough to drink. So if the NBA really feels this 20 age limit is some sort of noble gesture, why the fuck are they pimping Lebron out as being their Superman? The hypocrisy is simply hilarious.
Blackace said:
All I am saying if some of these HS players went to school then there wouldn't be a 4 year gap between being picked and performing... besides they might learn something as well...
Yeah, they're learning that getting paid money feels pretty good. And when half of these players are coming from situations where their mother is trying to run some run down shack of a home in the middle of the projects with no husband or father around and three or four other mouths to feed, you're gonna do everything in your power to help your family out as quickly as you can. And making millions of dollars for a college ain't gonna cut it when you damn well know you can play well in the A.
That by the way is part of what Jermaine meant by the racism...it's no secret that black people are coming from a lower standard of living then white people, and there are a hundred tales from players who's biggest joy from turning pro is being able to support their mother, parents or family, getting them out of the ghetto and into a comfortable lifestyle. That ability is in my view needlessly hampered with an age limit. Now someone with the talent of a Lebron James, an Amare Stoudamire or a Dwight Howard is forced to go to school for one or two years, while their family are dodging bullets that are buzzing up and down their street. How's that fair?
levious said:
The NCAA is a corrupted mess... why is it seen as something of a purification process for players.
Indeed..
bishoptl said:
And by farming out those high schoolers to the NCAA instead of letting them play in the League:
- the NBA benefits from the 3-4 years of college hype for these players before they move to the pros
- the NCAA benefits from the billions in revenue generated by these kids while giving them a pittance (and as Shinobi knows, that's a whole other thread I can fire up at will
)
Using the college game as a farm system screws kids like Shaun Livingston, Jermaine O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant out of their right to ply their trade and
receive fair-market compensation at the highest possible level. Like O'Neal said, you can catch a bullet for Bush at 18, but you can't drop a ball into a hoop? If I was a high schooler and the NBA tried to impose an age-limitation system carte blanche, I'd sue the fuck out of the NBA and the Player's Association.
On point as usual.
whytemyke said:
Simple solution...
...if the NBA wants to have an age limit, all you have to do is say that you are required to have a 4 year degree before being allowed to enter the draft. People want to treat it like a business, fine, treat it like a business. You want to work for us, you need a 4 year degree and at least a 2.0 GPA. We'll pay you the millions, but you gotta sweat for it before you can earn it.
Yeah, okay...so how does that work for European players, many of whom are pro at 15 and 16? The moment you're paid a dime on the job, you're barred from NCAA play. So how exactly are these guys going to get a four year degree, when they'd be ineligable from the jump? It's a nice idea, but it's horribly flawed.
That is, unless the NCAA changes it's ass backwards, 19th century rules. A possible compromise is that players are able to be drafted at 18, then play in college for two years while being paid by the clubs. But I haven't put much thought into it, so it's probably twice as flawed as your idea. :lol Farm league is the way to go, but the NBA clearly don't wanna dip into their pockets for it or they would've done it years ago.
Blackace said:
Anyways, I think it is quotes like these that show how young O'Neal is, I am sure he means well by his quotes and is trying to protect the players following him. But he didn't take time to put together a good "speech" for the press... savy players always had something written or worked out......
The savvy players say nothing but the same tired, dead pan, cliche as fuck lines that have been uttered for a hundred years. Jermaine chose to give an opinion, and he gets crucified for it by the same full of shit media who hates players that give cliche answers. It's one of many reasons why I despise them.
