It's an interesting debate. At what point does the "protection" of the players and the game become un-American? At what point do we question the racial element of this argument? In the NBA, the physical nature of the game doesn't play as much of a role in David Stern's proposition. I can understand the NFL making a young athlete play 3 college years; it is truly a much more violent sport that demands its players being physically mature. Sure kids are developing a lot faster these days, but I think the NFL is well-informed and accurate on their assessment of when the bodies of their players are ready. Let's face it, you can be a toothpick and excel in the NBA. Take one of the most exciting players in the NBA right now, Monta Ellis. He's a third year player, has no facial hair, and ignoring his height... he's a rail (though deceptively strong). Sure Monta could have worked on his game in college and possibly picked up a few more things; but he also could have had a catastrophic knee injury in college that would've jeopardized his professional career. To put the physical argument to bed, these young NBA players are man-children when drafted but are beasts by year 3-4 (LeBron, Dwight Howard, Josh Smith, Bynum).

At 18, I was pretty much an independent person. At 18, I was pretty confident in making most of the independent choices in my life. The yearly barrier for high school to the NBA has gone from 0 to 1 and now a proposed 2 years. I get it Mr. Stern. You want players that are more mature and ready to provide real substance to their teams. GMs and head coaches definitely prefer to monitor a player's development and maturity over a longer period of time instead of having to gamble on potential. We all wish for a million Brandon Roy stories, but that's just not realistic. Most would argue that the majority of the truly star scholarship athletes are playing college sports as strictly a means to an end (to play in the League).

I agree with Bobby Knight, what is this one year of college really doing for the athletes and the programs that recruit them? The freshmen are the stars and they essentially rule the team. Who are the naive folks out there that believe these kids are really focused on the education side of college? The programs are being teased for one year. They'll just suck again next year unless they can borrow another kid for one year. In every other faction of this capitalistic and "opportunistic" society, we allow prodigies to matriculate at an accelerated rate. This concept goes for the kid, though rare, that goes to college at age 13 and the golf or tennis prodigy that dashes for the pro tours.

Why aren't we protecting the athletes that skip college to pursue professional baseball, golf, hockey, and tennis? To touch back on the physical nature of the NFL... the NHL, an obviously physical league, isn't physically protecting the young athlete. The common theme that links baseball, golf, and tennis is that they are sports that are mostly played by white athletes. The problem that's arising is that Stern and the NBA are overdoing it with the protection of the young black athlete. The NBA is obviously assuming that their young athletes are not mentally capable of handling the pressures of being a high-salary / high-profile public figure. What are Stern's true fears? Aside from underachieving based on draft hype, where are the numerous horror stories on the athletes coming straight from high school? Maurice Clarett and Lawrence Phillips both went to college and look at how their situations turned out. We need to analyze these people as individuals and stray away from making decisions based on stereotypes. I argue that young white athletes are just as immature as black athletes, but the difference is how their respective life issues are reported in the media. This is what Okayplayer.com's sports message board calls 'cism and I agree. The bottom line is that it's a personal choice by capable athletes who are physically ready to play the game. One major goal in life is to reach the apex of your career / life passion and I'm for any legal means of accelerating that process.

-Craft

0 Comments Read all»