Monday, June 27, 2005

Greg Anthony and the Minimum age limit

I don't like the espn's basketball show, but I turned it on and greg anthony made a point that I have been saying since the age limit discussion was started. The fact is these kids are 18 they can go to war and get shot in the face, but they can't play basketball for 48 minutes? That is a joke. Now people may say "Hey it is only 19 some high schoolers can still go." Well your high school class has to also be one year removed from graduation so when OJ Mayo graduates he still can't go into the draft even though he 19. I do not understand if you can be an artist, or a tennis player, or basically do anything else but you cannot play basketball professionally at the highest level in the world. If you have an extraordinary talent why should you be prevented from using it. Now a stupid person may ask "Hey Jared, these kids should get an education." Well first of all college is not for everyone, second why would you go to college if you can put it off and profit off a skill that is limited by time and injury why would you risk your livelihood to get an education that is not necessary at that time. Also most of these kids are coming from crappy inner-city schools and do not have any of the academic tools to succeed in college like the suburban kids do. That why players such as McGrady and LeBron went to a different high school, but most players do not have that opportunity. People complain about how high schoolers are hurting the NBA, but what about Yvjdgd Lofjhfgd from Russia who cannot speak english, cannot play, but whichever team feels he can contribute in the future. They are drafted play crappily for a couple years and take draft and roster spots from college players who deserve it. A larger percentage of international players do not make it onto an NBA roster or are out of the league within 2 years than high school players. Now I'm not saying we need to ban international players, banning an entire group of people because of something they cannot control is wrong, but why not put the responsibility on the teams' scouts and executives to make better picks. If a player you pick does not make it to the NBA, penalize the team somehow with a lost draft pick or a fine. Now this would not really affect the first 20 picks or so because the best players always go in the first third of the draft (well not always but for the most part). Now these players may or may not end up playing well in the NBA but almost always make a roster. The real problem lies later in the draft where teams take more chances. If you penalize them for taking Pierre Lopuye from France because he does not come to the NBA don't you think teams will take the reliable college senior more often. This is the thought process that will one day make me commissioner of the NBA and eventually King of Earth.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home