Sraight to NBA

I am going to finish up from the last post about Coach Hewitt and the apology. I think I have fleshed out my thoughts well enough to be fairly coherent on the issue. After doing some checking, I found an excellent source from an older article on the Doc Sports web site. This author conducted a breakdown of the success of high schoolers who entered the draft straight from high school.

The gist is this. The majority of high schoolers drafted straight to the NBA do not have an immediate impact; many have no impact at all in the NBA. The more I have read, and the more I have thought, I have come to a few conclusions.

First, why are so many people not being honest to these young athletes? In other words, what is so bad with going to college first? There are two typical retorts to this. One, what if they get hurt playing college ball, ruining their chances of an NBA future? To that I would say, what if they got hit by a bus crossing the street to Madison Square Garden on draft day? No one can predict things like injuries or accidents. They happen. I still argue that the opportunity to get some education, live away from home (mature, hopefully), and work with a higher level of coaching all make college a much better decision. The second retort is one I touched on in my earlier post, that being economic opportunity. Shouldn't these young athletes be given the chance to maximize their earning ability as soon as possible? I am a little conflicted on this one. I don't mind people making the cash as early as they can, but I go back to the long term benefits of going to college.

Second, and this is an argument that Congressman Cohen from Tennessee spoke about directly, and most others who have written or spoken on this issue at least imply. That is the racial, or at least the socioeconomic dynamics associated with this issue. Most of these kids have come from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Considering this, I will turn the economic argument back on some people. Think about the economic impact of a young athlete getting drafted, outside of the first round and its financial guarantees. Say this same athlete gets injured during the off season, ending his career. Without an education, where does that leave that same athlete? Beyond that, what does it say when people in authority (writers, sports casters, even US Congressmen) basically concede that these young athletes have been failed by the education system,can't benefit from college, and don't belong in college. Strong, I know, but that implication is clearly there.

Ultimately, I see two troubling aspects after digging into this subject. First, our society seems to not value education as much as money/prestige. Second, our society seems to be moving further down the path of immediate gratification. What would you really want for your child?