( dare I say sports fans.... a sound dismantling ! ? )
Founded in 1946, the league in the early days established a rule that a player could not make himself available for the draft until FOUR YEARS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION.
( And ain't this a humdinger..... ? ! Up until the late 60's , in the N.C.A.A., college freshman weren't even allowed to PLAY varsity sports ! ! ! )
Through the 70's and 80's , you had " giants " like Wilt the Stilt and Air Jordan who attended college and garnered THREE years of experience before coming to the league.
Some might feel ( especially yours truly ) , that this contributed to their maturity of individual skills and team play.
Nowadays.. What do you have ?
Superstars bunched in a group of no cohesion on the level not seen in ages.
My SUGGESTION :
- Expand the D-League from its current 17 teams to 30 like in the N.B.A .
- If the player decides to forgo college and enter the D, the N.B.A. enters into a contract with him for 3 years while providing a stipend of $75,000 per annum.
Sports-fans........ Time for you to voice your opinion !
For The Defining Moment.
I hadn't heard the D-League suggestion in the past. It's an interesting proposition.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right, the one and done rule isn't helping anyone. I can get behind the argument that it isn't fair to prevent the kids that are good enough to enter the league right away a chance to be drafted, provide for their family, etc. I think these cases are few and far between, but I don't think you could make the argument that Lebron or Kobe or Garnett would have been better suited going to Duke for a year and then leaving for the NBA.
And the one and done rule isn't fair to the "student" athletes because kids are coming to college with no intention of going to class, maintaining their grades, etc. They plan on being done by mid-second semester and then dropping college. If they suffer an injury during the season or reality sets in and they aren't a first round draft pick, they could be in serious jeopardy of maintaining their grades to stay in school.
The college game is obviously suffering from the lack of continuity. Team GPAs are poor (UCONN's troubles last year), it's tougher to recruit, etc.
Basketball seems to be different that other sports though in that a 19 or 20 year old can have a greater impact at the professional level.
How about this - you can go to the league if you want right out of high school, but you have to spend the first half of the NBA season in the D-league before you can be brought up...maybe even at the d-league salary?
For those going to college, you'd have to stay for 2 years.
If you decide to go play in Europe you wouldn't be able to be drafted by an NBA team until after your 21st birthday.
I'm torn though because this isn't just not fair for a guy like Parker on Duke or Randle on Kentucky who could be a 6th man on an NBA team next year...possibly be starting by mid-season.
Instead of 2 years of college , I'd prefer the N.B.A. to require them to stay the course for a full 4 ! Those who choose to enter the N.B.A. right out of high school should be required to play in the D-League for 4 years at the sum of $75,00 per annum. Afterwards, they attain a bachelor's degree in business while attending summer camps for their D team in order to stay on top of their skills. The N.B.A. is truly a global organization which reaches into Europe, therefor , homegrown players need to MATURE in every aspect .
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