The carnage is over, and a lot of not-so-bright guys are heading off to very
short NBA careers, which will be followed, if they are lucky, by healthy careers
overseas, but regardless, their careers will all be winding down at 35 or so,
when a number of them will either have families, or, by modern athletic
tradition, child support. At this point in their lives, if not earlier (for the
lucky ones in many respects), they will have to go out and find a job. Most of
them, when asked what level of education they have completed, will answer
"high school." Doors will close in their face, easy money will have
stopped flowing, and reality will set in: it was a Faustian bargain.
Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett are the examples people point to, but what they
don't point to as often is the fact that these kids were not just physical
prodigies, but were extremely mature as well. They both spent a lot of time
alone in hotel rooms, playing video games, and learning hard lessons about a
brutally competitive field, but at the end of the day, Kobe went out and worked
on his skills and Garnett did the same. Neither assumed being drafted meant they
made it. They both had a lot more maturity than some of their elders,
including Oliver Miller, Chris Webber, Dennis Rodman, and a host of
others.Â
Look down this list -
Schea Cotton. Jamal Crawford. Joel Przybilla. Karim Shabazz. How many of
these guys strike you as being mature? And 31 others coming out early -
guaranteeing that even if no seniors were drafted in the first round at all that
some are not going early . Andy
Katz has some interesting comments on the decision making.
Enjoy their moment of glory for those who make it to the first round. For
most of them shaking hands with David Stern will be the highlight of their
career. The rest will get a brief handshake with Rod Thorn, a look-see, and a
ticket to Turkey or Greece or Spain, where they will, indeed, be in for a rude
awakening.