As I watch the "modern age of basketball, and see how the imports are doing, I ask myself, why do our homegrown players suffer so much. Its not like the best hoops players aren't still produced in America, it just the imports come more ready to play than our players. Why? In America and in the NBA, we get the idea that college is for everyone. In europe, players who have the early talent to be successful in hoops are allowed to do so. I see guys like Parker,Peja,Dirk and others who have been playing pro ball since they were 15 or 16 yrs old. Now I'm not advocating letting guys this young drop out of high school and hoop, but I do have a solution thats already in place. The NBDL. i look at the few NBDL games that are availible and the only reason why this league isn't up to par or breeding our next stars is because they're fooling themselves. The NBA should break down the barriers and allow any 18 yr old with the talent to become availible for the draft in the NBDL. Also , the NBA shuld expand the league and assign them a team for that franchises developement. Imagine if every team had a NBDL team with their own coaches and implementing their own system. Iamagine how fluid the process the team could make if when a player gets injured, instead of finding a guy floating around one of these minor leagues, you could go to your minor league and bring up a player who know your system. Another benefit of this league would be to get a accurate gauge on what kind of player a team really has.Some of these 2nd rd picks,high schoolers or late 1st rounders who will not see any game time their first yr would be better served playing against other quality players instead of kids. Think about Deangelo Collins, Grizzard,Lenny Cooke and guys like that playing against men, instead of 16yr olds going through puberty. think about Eddy Curry playing against other players who is jut as strong or stronger to see if maybe he was just the biggest player playing against kids. I think the experience they could gain playing instead of sitting on the bench could really bring them up to the same level as some of the imports. Fundementals could be taught, guys could make a living without taking a scholarship foor 1 yr from another well deserving student athelete. It worlds of possibilites with the NBDL and the reality of the scope of atheletes. Some players go to college just to hoop to go to the nba. Instead of talking and saying the right things about education, someone needs to step up and talk about the kids making or having a future in something they want to do.
Boo-freaking-hoo. I would have no problem only making $20,000 a year if all I had to do was play basketball. I know that's kind of off topic, but I hate sob-stories where we are supposed to feel sorry for professional athletes, at whatever level. I would have loved to have born with the talent to do what these guys do.
This would be a great idea! I would like it to be like baseball. So we could send Eddie Griffin to our team in .......Waco or Huntsville or something. Then we could bring up another player and see if they do well. Meanwhile, Eddie could develop his shot. And he would return and fit perfectly. That would be great. Tito Maddox could get some experience down there too. AND HE FEELS LIKE CRYING?!?!?!? HE MAKES 20,000 BUCKS A YEAR FOR JUST PLAYING BASKETBALL. That seems nice to me.
What if it enabled you the opportunity to go to France, live like a king, lie to a group of women on national television, and become an instant celebrity?
I don't buy the whole foreign players are more ready to play thing. Obviously, there are guys benefiting from playing pro ball when they're teenagers like Parker and Gasol. Anyways, there are just as many if not more euros struggling as there are succeeding. And for every Euro who is good, there are multiple american players of the same age who are just as good if not better.
