Love going pro

I can't imagine how difficult it must be to go to college for free -- and to be known around campus as a basketball star. I mean, between the coeds and parties, he might as well attend school at Guantanamo U. Poor guy.

 

Do you care if they develop for the NBA or do you care because you see the college game becoming irrelevant?

 

Why do you think the NBA put in the one year of college rule? So the general public could get to know Love, Rose, Oden, Mayo, Beasley, Durant et al. better before they came into the league.

It gives the average fan a chance to see these guys on a regular basis, and get excited about them coming to join their team. And that in turn has helped the draft, because we know these guys who are coming into the league play on a regular basis.

 

I would argue the college game is much more relevent now than it was five years ago thanks to the NBA's age-rule.

 

Because hopefully in Melo's second year of college, which he skipped, that he would have leared how to stay out of the don't snitch videos or a DWI at 4 a.m. during the season.

I also want both leagues to be strong.

And in one year, only a handful of people know who are Beasley or Mayo. Outside of pretty serious college hoops fans, you have no idea who are these kids.

 

Why does the guy's age or dollar figure matter? Do you resent him making a lot of money? Do you resent him for making a lot of money when he's relatively young? Or do you take the misguided paternal view that it's better for Love that he stays in college?

 

GB-Hack's last two posts were spot-on. Excellent posts.

And, no offense 93Devil, but I hate the fact you keep bringing up the fact that Love and his family don't need the money.
How do you know? I mean, there's a difference between living a nice life and ensuring you and your family's (and your future family's) livelihood for a long, long time. Love already suffered some back issues during the Pac-10 tournament. Who's to say they won't get worse. He's not the athlete some of the other prospects are, so NBA GMs might not be as willing to look past injury issues that may arise. He's gotta look out for No. 1.

Is this ideal? No. I'd love it if college kids stayed at least 3 or 4 years in school. It'd improve the entertainment value of the college game and improve the quality of the pro game. But it's just not the way it is.

Don't be mad at Love for trying to fulfill a dream. Maybe it's not about the money. He said yesterday that it's his dream to play in the NBA. Why should he delay that when his own coach (Ben Howland) and draft experts, are saying he's a definite lottery pick? Could he be a bust? Yeah, maybe. But at least he'll know ... and he'll have pocketed a few million in the process.

He shouldn't be criticized for that.

 

And that's not to mention "jobs" where he works for boosters by doing nothing and having all the resources any college student could ever dream about for their classes.

 

Exactly ... if the New York Times or Sports Illustrated came at me when I was a sophomore in college and said "Hey, if you leave school now, we'll hire you as a staff writer for a six-figure salary."

Know what I'd say? Done and done. Where do I sign?
Tell me you wouldn't say the same thing, 93Devil.

 

NO! I DON'T WANT COLLEGE NEWSPAPERS TO SUFFER!

 

And SI's product would eventually fail with this mindset.

Any of you who have a teenage son or daughter, and I do not have one, but if I had a company say to my daughter when they were 19 that they want to move them to an undisclosed city and hand them a multi-million dollar contract, I would hesitate.

Your teenager, in a city that you have no idea where it will be, will be given more money then they can imagine. Yes, I would rather they mature for a few more years.

You try your entire life not to spoil them, then on one fail swoop it's gone.

I dunno. I would wait a few years.

And how many basketball players are not millionaires when they wait a few years?

 

Before anyone mentions Scotty Thurmond, remember that the number of college players who lost draft value by staying are far, far outweighed by people who left too soon and flamed out after a year or two.