Not that anyone really cares what we think, but we've long held that leaving
college early (or skipping college altogether) is not a really smart move for
most basketball players. The education is really valuable, and anyone who
has educated themselves of course can't imagiine not being educated. But
aside from that, there's a lot to be said for being 19 and with kids your age,
or 21, or 22 or 18. And there's an awful lot to be said for the sheer joy
of playing in college, where there is still a sense of passion and
excitement.
This article really points out a lot of the downsides of the
NBA. The upside? Getting obscene amounts of money to do what you love to
do. The down?
It's a grind, and no one cares about you, and in the long run it sucks most
people dry.
We read an article awhile back about Shaquille O' Neal and
Stanley Roberts, who both left LSU early, and how much, in retrospect, they
valued their time there. It was a nice read, and it reminds us of a lot of
other guys who have gone early and were taken aback by the realities of the
league - Kobe Bryant, who wondered what it would have been like to have been at
Duke (where he said he would have gone) in the Final Four, Carmelo Anthony, who
cried when he announced for the NBA, because he really loved being at Syracuse,
and several others who got there early and decided that money wasn't the end-all
and be-all.
On the other hand, there's the argument from the Chris Webber's of the world, who said that he felt exploited in college, that he didn't have enough money to buy a pizza and the school was getting rich. Of course, he was too at the time, though he obviously didn't pass that news around.
The suggestion that college ball is just a rip-off has several easy answers, and it's nice to see someone make a good case.