Race isn't an issue to the NBA (Stern & Co.). It's the quality of players. NBA games are not that exciting anymore. It is rare for a or both teams to score 100 points these days. NBA needs a developemental league. One can argue that expansion has hurt the league. There are some guys in the pros that should be there (ex: Moochie).
How would a minor league affect the salary cap? If you send a player down, does that free up cap space? Is the cap just raised so you can afford 6-8 more players?
Raising the age limit is not racist, because it is strictly economic. The owners are afraid that with the new CBA their bench will become the minor league. O'neal was a good case in point. He spent two or three years with the team that spent a high draft choice on him and then left, can't remember whether by trade or FA, to go to Indy and become and all-star. Somebody spent alot of money for nothing. For every LBJ there are many Darkos that cost the teams alot of money to keep them on their bench. About the time Darko hits his prime (if he does) he'll probably be playing for someone else. The owners can't pass up the opportunity to draft a potential star because the next owner will. So basically if they raise the age limit to 20 then they save themselves the salary and let the colleges be their free farm system, and can rest easy because no one else can draft him either.
I don't know about it be race issue. But I agree with him if you can fight at war at 18 than you should be able to enter the NBA if you got the talent. here's no reason the race card should be brougt out...BUT, in my opinion, it all boils down to one thing: equal opportunity. if you can do the job, no matter how old you are - no matter what ethicity you are - no matter what the hell you are, you should have the right to get that job. there should be no age limit. What should an 18 year old basketball player do if they don't want to go to college and can't play in the NBA? Join the YMCA???? Play in Europe? work at mickey d's? I agree with all these.just because you raise the age limt that dosn't mean the player will develop there are more flops straight from college then high schoolers.I a
You do realize that many, many companies have age limits and require college degrees to get jobs. Why should the NBA be held to different standards? Why is it O.K. for IBM to require a college degree for some positions(in essence you have to be 20+ years old to get a job there), but the NBA gets taken to court if they want to impose an age limit? What should that 18 year old whiz kid do if they don't want to go to college, but want to work at IBM? Darn right that player should work at McDonalds (or some place else) if there is an age limit imposed. The NBA is NOT a right. It is a privilege. There is no constitutional right to an NBA job for anyone.
The rights of a private business to incorporate policies to protect its self interest should always be honored. Owners have the right and freedom to choose who they would like to hire based on criteria required for that particular job. If the candidate meets the criteria from a skills point of viewe and there is no personality conflichts then they will probably get hired regardless of physical differences (i.e. race, creed. sex etc.). When you start imposing government levied policies you are infringing upon the rights of the business owner to make good choices based on his/her situation and needs. Bottom line is there are no guarantees in life and the athletes who are getting paid these unrealistic salaries should consider themselves blessed to be in such a position. But invevitabley you end up with guys who get guaranteed money because of the CBA and then don't perform at that level but continue to get paid. An example of this would be a top ten first round pick who is selected by a team and the team is forced to pay him a high dollar salary and he sits on the end of the bench because he requires further development. This just dilutes the entire league. One last point on the "unconstitutional" comment.......this is just plain ridculous. In fact when the government levies policies that restrict the peoples freedom of choice, that is unconstitutional, not the fact that a private business chooses to make private policies to protect its own self interest. This type of mentality is a bit scary and border line socialist / facistic in nature. Our forefathers are rolling their respective graves with this type of rhetoric being thrown around so liberally. By owning the business you have the freedom to choose who you hire. If the players don't like the policies of the league go find another job or start their own league.....end of story!
The NBA has a "RIGHT" to set it's own requirements, and the players have a "RIGHT" to challenge that requirement. All of this gets solved with a real minor league system. DD™
I saw him on Sportscenter this morning about this...I don't know, but it's kind of hard to take the opinion of a guy in a backwards baseball cap and FUBU shirt very seriously on a topic like racism...
i admit to not being very knowledgable about the pros and cons to an age limit to enter the nba, but as a student, i find it very hard to accept schools fiving full scholarships to 'students' who dont want to be there in the first place.
If there is an age limit hopefully these kids wise up and go play in Europe until they're 20, that way they'll get paid to play the game instead of making millions for rich dudes who don't give a damn about them. They'll probably learn the game better over there anyway.
Everyone keeps saying there are just as many busts sitting on the bench as All-Stars. Does anyone have any actual numbers on this, because when I look around the league, every top player left early, except for Duncan. That alone makes an age limit stupid IMO.
All this is great and everything...it's just you're factually mistaken. We're not talking about business theory, which is more debatable, but actual law.
A serious question.... Why is a corporation allowed to set rules as to who they hire (e.g. require a college degree and thus an implied age limit) while the NBA can't? Granted the NBA has to bargain with the union, but it should not be a question of law as to whether or not an age limit is imposed.
High Schoolers drafted since 1995-2003 Kevin Garnett Kobe Bryant Jermaine O'Neal Tracy McGrady Al Harrington Rashard Lewis Korleone Young Jonathan Bender Leon Smith Darius Miles Deshawn Stevenson Kwame Brown Tyson Chandler Eddie Curry Sagana Diop Ousmane Cisse Amare Stoudemire Lebron James Travis Outlaw Ndudi Ebi Kendrick Perkins The only two players on this list that have made a significant impact their first two years in the league are Garnett, LeBron, Stoudemire, and Possibly Kobe, who scored 15 points off the bench his second season...another question to ask is how many high school players the past ten years didn't even get drafted? Once you hire an agent, your college basketball career is over. Nobody wants to prevent kids from having success in the NBA, they just want them to be prepared for the NBA when they get there. A true minor league system would help accomplish that. All the others are either out of the league, sitting on the end of a bench, or took 3 or 4 years to develop. It only takes a couple of bad games early in a player's career to lose his coach's respect and get him buried on the bench where he'll stay there for eternity. Another thing I noticed is that only Rashard Lewis and Ousmane Cisse were drafted in the second round. It really is all or nothing for these guys.
why are you offended by hip hop music? you probably enjoyed the half time show during the all star game..
A-Train: So playing against weaker competition in college helps a player more than playing against the top competition in the pros (along with the best coaches, facilities, etc)? A good post from a Laker fan: College is a nice experience, but that shouldn't be for anybody to decide but you. Logic would follow that you mandate EVERYBODY to go to college before entering ANY job, whether it be sports, corporate or the military. Why is the argument is only applied to basketball? I loved my college experience, but let’s not kid ourselves; the reason why I put myself through college was so I can have that degree. Recruiters come to campus every year, I don't know what the rate is now, but I new what I was worth coming out of college. I mean that was the bottom line why I was in school, to be able to land a stable job. The girlfriends, the frats, the parties, the charities, yeah the "college experience" was wonderful, but my main reason for college was to get that degree to put myself in a better financial situation. So what is the point in staying when someone tosses millions and millions of guaranteed money in my face? If we take financial security as the main reason for college as I have, then the NBA loses its argument. The NBA is saying that you need that "college experience." Sure, some might go to college for different reasons than financial security. Some want worldly knowledge, some want to join humanitarian efforts, etc. Who is David Stern to tell people what they should "experience" in life? It is such an elitist point of view. Most of these athletes come from poverty and I'd like to see Stern get the poverty experience. It's also funny to hear all these hypocrites on TV spew about how education is important. If it's so important, why not mandate the athlete to actually graduate?? They know darn well that even if they forced these kids to college, that they would leave in two years anyway. So two years of beer drinking and less than 100% effort in the class room is going to make a better man? No, the NBA is not worried or thinking about education. It is just the modus operandi. What they are worried about is the product on the court. They think that some of these kids are not prepared to play the game, and so they want to take away their legal right of employment at age 18, so they can improve the game. So just say it like it is, don't give me this education is important crap. The NBDL is more of an honest answer than the education spew. Lastly, it is a high risk sport. I'm trying to gain financial security for my family, I've got millions of guaranteed dollar on the table, but you want me to hold off two years where there is a chance I can break my leg, tear a ligament, etc.? Look if you fail the NBA, you can always go back to college to get your degree. It's not as if the choice is NBA or scum of society, which is what Stern the elitist is alluding to. There're not prepared, there lives are ruined, yada, yada. Bull-crap, you can always go back to college if you were made for college in the first place. But once you break a leg and your stock drops, that opportunity to get paid millions and millions is gone. Bottom line, don’t deny people of their choice and right to employment, just because your owners can’t control themselves on draft night. You think they’re not ready, don’t draft them. If you want to give those millions, it’s their right to take it. Didn’t Bill Gates drop out of high school for the corporate world? How was he prepared for life? How about golf, baseball and tennis players, how are they prepared for life? To pick on basketball where the kids in question are predominantly blacks, reeks of elitism and racism.
You are 100% correct, sir...but I think sports have some anti trust issues that may cloud this matter. DD
