THEY NEED A FIX
Commish Adam Silver and the NBA need to work with the NCAA to repair the broken system
The NBA is reportedly working on a plan to remove cheating from college basketball and putting it right back where it belongs: ninth grade.
Or do the payments begin in eighth grade?
Of course, no one will end the corruption that exists in the NCAA. As long as there are player agents with deep pockets and college coaches under pressure to win, we’ll always have “student-athletes” being enticed, romanced and even coerced. This is big business. And there really isn’t much Adam Sliver and the NCAA can do about that.
But Silver, the NBA Commissioner, and NCAA president Mark Emmert, who doesn’t like the idea of players using college as a gap year between high school and the NBA Draft, know the current system isn’t ideal either. Something needs to be done.
ESPN reported that the NBA is looking to into identifying and working with elite high school seniors, both on and off the court, which should ultimately lead to the end of the “one and done” rule.
In 2005, the NBA, with the blessing of the players’ union, created an age limit to keep high school seniors from going directly to the NBA. Instead, a player has to be 19 years old or one year removed from his high school graduation to be drafted.
The NBA does allow 18-year-olds to sign with the G League but the maximum salary is $26,000 per season. Hence, the better option is to join a top college program for one season, play in high profile games on television and then enter the draft. (Now, that hasn’t stopped the same players from complaining that they’re not being properly compensated, even though the players had the option to join the NBA’s minor leagues out of high school. Or play in Europe, China or Australia, where Oklahoma City rookie Terrance Ferguson played last year before being selected in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft).
Here’s the thing. If the top 15 to 30 high school seniors joined the NBA each year — which in truth would be a high number — college basketball and the NCAA Tournament won’t suffer. So why, other than providing room and board, should the NCAA pay its players?
The brand in college basketball is the school and the head coach. The brand in the NBA is the player. That’s why the NCAA should want the “one-and-done” rule thrown away with yesterday’s trash.
The NBA is taking on the bigger risk if it eliminates “one-and-done.” It puts a greater premium on scouting and player development as it should.
One solution is for the NBA to have a full-fledged minor league system similar to baseball and hockey and thus allow high school players to choose between signing with a professional club or attending college. Should the player arrive on campus for the first day of classes that player isn’t eligible for the NBA for two years. Unlike Major League Baseball, the team holds that player’s rights even if the player plays four years of college basketball. If you expanded the draft to three or four rounds, NBA teams would be drafting a handful of high school players annually. Only a select few would be talented enough to play in the NBA right away. Those that elect to sign and join a G League team would do so with the understanding that they could spend one or two years in the minor leagues. Others would realize that college is the better option and that they can revisit their NBA dream two years down the road. But for each NBA team to operate its own G League affiliate, it would include hiring more scouts working high school gymnasiums, which costs money. Under the current system, the NCAA is identifying players for the NBA and developing them at least for one year. Only the NFL has a better “free” minor league system. Some are advocating a system similar to professional soccer, which runs academy programs. But that would essentially mean signing free agents at 14 years old and potentially providing housing and schooling. Additionally, the richest soccer clubs in the world have a huge advantage over smaller clubs. If you install that system in the NBA that would put smaller market teams at a competitive disadvantage. Perhaps one day the NBA will have academy programs for all 30 teams, but not yet. The more feasible approach is go back to the old system of letting high schoolers turn pro. It worked for Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
And before you cite the high school players who didn’t pan out, just know that Kwame Brown is considered a bust yet his career earnings are $64 million. The so-called bust broke the bank. And he didn’t spend a day in college.