I know that I've had been posting on a weekly basis recently, but that's kind of what happens when my schedule lines up nicely and I have some time on my hands between both of my jobs. Let's also add in the fact that there's so much to write about for Wildcard Wednesday, I'll probably never run out of topics.
Before I get to my main topic about the 1-and-Done controversy between the NBA and the NCAA, I would like to recap a couple of things that I did this past Memorial Day holiday:
Disneyland's Diamond Celebration
Roxanne and I were planning on attending the 24-hour Disney Day on the back end of the celebration. However, by the time I got off work at 2:30PM we already saw on Twitter that Disneyland reached full capacity and ended up letting people in around 2:30AM. Roxanne even had friends waiting for almost 5 hours just to get in at 2:30AM. That probably would've been us if we left San Diego around 3-3:30. Anyways...we ditched our Friday plans and ended up going to Disneyland on Sunday. We had a blast and enjoyed the new Paint the Night Parade as well as the Disneyland Forever fireworks show. We took our seats on Main Street around 4:30PM and waited the 4 hours, but it was totally worth it.
Mad Max: Fury Road
Some people don't like referring to Rotten Tomatoes for movie reviews because they can sometimes be a little bias. Trust me when I say this...I was on the edge of my seat more for this movie than I was for Avengers: Age of Ultron. Now, don't get me wrong, Age of Ultron was entertaining, but Mad Max: Fury Road took the action to a whole other level of intensity with "I don't even know what's going on, but OH MY GOD WATCH OUT!" kind of feelings. What more can I say.
NCAA-NBA 1-AND-DONE CONTROVERSY
A lot has come up the past couple of years when it comes to the NBA's draft eligibility and the rules set for up-and-coming NCAA players. Everyone has their own spin on it. I haven't read their opinions because I don't want to skew my own views. For those who aren't caught up in sports, basically the NBA set a rule in 2005 that set an age limit at 19 for players to be eligible to enter the NBA. There are some outliers for this situation, but that is the basic age limit. In addition to this, a player must be "one year out of high school". Hence, the the 1-and-done. The reason why the NBA created this rule was because there was an influx of players coming out of high school showing little to no experience that they can play on the professional level.
Here are some reason why I DO NOT LIKE 1-and-done's to enter the NBA draft:
- These players do not complete their education
- These players do not have experience playing on the professional level
- As players come in and out of college, NCAA coaches are forced to change their system as different line-ups appear
You'll see these reasons appear throughout the rest of this blog when I show my proposal on how to change things up.
First, I would like to point out that the NCAA is money-making machine and is making billions of dollars off these college athletes through TV deals and merchandise from basketball, to football, to volleyball, to softball, and even to lacrosse. Yet, these players do not see a percent of that. Yes, they are most likely receiving an athletic scholarship, but it's only fair for the players to receive a lump sum of that money. How can we change that? Here's my proposal:
A player will decide if he/she wants to pursue their degree. If they do want to pursue their degree, they will receive their 4-year academic scholarship as normal. However, if a player decides to be a player full-time, then the school will be obligated to pay that player as if they were a staff member of the college/university. No taking classes, just focusing on playing that sport full-time for the school.Well, there are a lot of counter-arguments you can bring up like "...sports aren't all year..." or "...it's dumb to possibly have some players playing as students and some playing as 'staff' members...". These are valid arguments, but the point that I'm trying to make with this proposal is to pay the players when they earn it.
Second, let's talk about the whole education aspect of players who go 1-and-done. Let's be real here, if you know that you're a good athlete and you have agents saying that you'll be an automatic 1st round draft pick, why wouldn't you go to the NBA as soon as possible? With this "one year out of high school", players are using this one year to play in college sports to take advantage of the media outlets to showcase their talents. You hear a lot of players saying that they're not thinking about entering the draft because they're focused on the college season you should already know in the back of their minds that they're thinking about shaking hands with Adam Silver when their name is announced on draft day. So, if they're only going to be playing for one year and they know that they're going to be leaving after one year...what do these players even study? Should they even take these classes seriously if they know they're going to make millions of dollars for the NBA? Wouldn't you think it's a complete waste of time for these professors to grade their papers and teach them about philosophy when all they're thinking about is life on the basketball court? Imagine you're John Smith and you're looking sign-up for classes and you are 1 spot short of getting into the class. What if that 1 spot is taken by a college basketball player who has the potential to be the #1 draft pick in next year's draft? Is that player really going to using that knowledge about American History to good use in the NBA? Probably not. But there was also Jane Adams who tried to apply for X University, however admissions already filled up the student body. One of those students is a college freshman who isn't even planning on attending 4-years of college to get his degree when Jane Adams wanted to get her Bachelor's in Biology. I know it took me a while to get to my point, but these are things that we don't really think about when it comes to these college athletes shortening their academic scholarships to pursue their dreams. Do I blame them? No, because that is what they've wanted to do since they were a little kid. But let's also remind these kids that there is life after basketball. Most players play 12-16 years before they hang it up. They retire before they're 40...now what?
What do people like to advise college students before they get their first big-time job? Get an internship. Get that entry-level experience. A college player may seem to dominate in the NCAA, but in the NBA players are faster, stronger, and smarter. Nothing the NCAA can match up with. It's very important to the NBA that they develop their players and prepare them for the professional level. That's why they have their own Development League and I believe utilizing this asset will be key to my next proposal.
- If a player wants to avoid attending college after high school with a desire to play in the NBA, they are required to complete 3 years in the NBA Development League before teams can reach out and sign them.
- If a player decides to cut it short after one year of playing college basketball with a desire to play in the NBA, they are required to complete 2 years in the NBA Development League before teams can reach out and sign them.
- If a player decides to cut it short after 2 years of playing college basketball with a desire to play in the NBA, they are required to complete 1 year in the NBA Development League before teams can reach out and sign them.
- If a player decides to cut it short after 3 years of playing college basketball with a desire to play in the NBA, they are allowed to sign with a team as an undrafted player.
- If a player completes their 4-year degree with a desire to play in the NBA, they are allowed to enter the NBA draft.
What does this proposal work on? It focuses on education and a player to gain experience. I truly believe that a player coming out of college requires discipline and hard work in order to play in the NBA. I don't think it's fair for veteran players who have put in their time to lose their spot to a rookie just because a younger player has displayed excellent talent in college. These younger players need to earn their spot. This proposal should also help build on the NBA Development League not just for media attention but to also expand teams by creating more opportunities for players who want to grow and build on their fundamentals as professionals.
One main argument here is about injuries. If a player with major potential happens to injure themselves playing in a D-League game, then what does that to that player's chances to get into the NBA? Fair argument. Can't really say much there because injuries can happen at any moment. All I can say is that if a player really is that good...they'll work their way up. Just like how any normal working class human being.
Well, if you've made it this far through the blog you either jumped right to the last paragraph 'cause you were bored from the meat of the content or my proposals might have interested you in the slightest. Either way I'm glad you're sitting there reading NotablyNotable.com and I hope you're enjoying reading all of our content. That's pretty much all I want to say about this topic. My problems with it and my some-what solutions to said problems. Please leave a comment in the section below your thoughts on how we can change this 1-and-done process.
Thanks for stopping by!
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