http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/opinion/06SHIE.html

May 6, 2004
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Why Not Go Pro?
By DAVID SHIELDS

SEATTLE — The decision by Sebastian Telfair, the basketball star from Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, to enter the N.B.A. draft is being met with the predictable finger-wagging. Following the Supreme Court's rejection of a plea by the football player Maurice Clarett to be allowed to enter the N.F.L. draft after his sophomore year at Ohio State, it's bound to strengthen the resolve of David Stern, the N.B.A. commissioner, to enact a minimum age requirement of 20 for his draft. "The reason I'm in favor of an age limit is not because young players can't play," Stern has said. "But I think it's better for them to stay in school."

Better for whom? Some 80 percent of high schoolers drafted by the N.B.A. since 1995 became multimillionaires by the age of 21. Of the 29 prep stars who declared for the draft and hired an agent between 1975 and 2003, nine — including Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett — became stars, and all but three have had decent careers. And Telfair has already signed an endorsement contract with Adidas that he says will pay $15 million.

Considering the relatively brief careers of professional athletes, teenagers who are good enough to play at the highest level should be able to exploit that market. The N.F.L.'s rule on underclassmen should be abolished, and the N.B.A. should be discouraged from adding an age limit.

For the third consecutive year, the No. 1 pick in the N.B.A. draft will probably be a high-schooler — perhaps Dwight Howard of Atlanta. Seven of the first 10 players selected could be high schoolers. Most every N.B.A. team's director of personnel has said Telfair should go to college, but added that he would probably be a lottery pick — one of the first 13 players chosen and thus the recipient of a multimillion-dollar contract.

I suspect the real reason the N.F.L. and N.B.A. don't want high schoolers and college underclassmen to play with their ball is that they don't want to jeopardize their relationship with National Collegiate Athletic Association, which serves as a sort of free minor league and unpaid promotional department for the pros. The N.C.A.A. is a multibillion-dollar business built on the talents of players who are often unqualified for or uninterested in being students and who benefit materially from the system only if they are among the few who turn professional.

Teenage pros are hardly limited to football and basketball. In his first season of professional hockey, Wayne Gretzky was 18. The new star of Major League Soccer is 14-year-old Freddy Adu. John McEnroe turned pro after his freshman year at Stanford. Tiger Woods did so after his sophomore year. Venus Williams and her sister Serena left school in their early teens to play tennis. Gary Sheffield entered the major leagues at 19, as did Mickey Mantle.

Most baseball players don't attend college, and few graduate. Only 22 percent of the players in the N.H.L. attended college. Yet there is never an outcry over youthful debuts in hockey, soccer, tennis, golf and baseball. Why not? Here's my guess: those sports are dominated by whites, while 78 percent of N.B.A. players and 65 percent of N.F.L. players are black.

Americans are rightly shamed over our nation's racial history. But, perversely, in the sporting world this guilt seems to be expressed through a tendency for white people — coaches, sports writers and commissioners — to play guardian to black teenagers in a way they wouldn't think of doing to white ones. Sebastian Telfair is old enough to vote and to die for his country in war. He — along with his basketball and football peers — is old enough to get paid.


David Shields is the author of "Body Politic: The Great American Sports Machine."

Agree and Disagree
 

I agree that these players should have the ability to exploit their talents.

However, his conclusion that "Here's my guess: those sports are dominated by whites, while 78 percent of N.B.A. players and 65 percent of N.F.L. players are black." is ridiculous.

He already made his argument and failed to draw the link. The leagues NBA and NFL don't want to jeopardize their relationship with NCAA. However, other sports where whites dominate are allowed to enter the professional level earlier. Ridiculous.

The sports that he mentions have very little national interest at the college level. When was the last time a bracket went around your office for NCAA soccer, golf or tennis. Hockey is only really supported by certain northern states. And although baseball has a
College World Series, that sport is supported more by minor league teams affiliates with the pros than the NCAA.

So, if he can surmise that the NBA and NFL are protecting their relationships with the NCAA, then that is his answer and race is irrelevant.

What happens to all the players that will not get drafted at all out of High School? Of course there are players that have been drafted, but what about those that are not first round draft pick?

Team sports are also much different than individual sports as well. When you have to get some camaraderie with other players, it is different when you are competing by yourself.

Shaun Livingston from Peoria Central High School in Illinois has declared for the NBA and passes up his scholarship to Duke. This kid won the State Championship in Illinois, but struggled at times to score 15 points in a High School game. And he is going to have to compete against 12 other HS players and many college players to make it into the first round. Remember, they have not done the camps yet either. And that is where the real evaluation is going to be made. You stock can fall off greatly just by the NBA Evaluation held at Moody Bible College in Chicago alone. I can understand the opportunity to want to take that chance to make millions, but if you fail, you fail big. First Rounders are the only ones that are pretty much guaranteed to make the team. Second rounders often do not make the roster or get the millions at all. So basically you have to be the top 32 player to make a team. Out of all those players HS and college. I know we are going to see a few of those HS players not make it.

Peace

I absolutely do not buy the race card stuff the writer talks about...however, if a HS kid wants to try to make an NBA or NFL or MLB team - let 'em try. Why not? We'll let 16 year-olds be try to win multi-million dollar recording contracts on American Idol, but won't let a 19 year-old try to make it in professional sports? If the kid is good enough, let them play - if they aren't good enough, they won't make it...

He plays for the Houston Rockets. Averaged 11.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game this past season.

Oops, I meant Marcus Taylor, not MoPete.
How soon I forget.

Do you mean Marcus Taylor? He was drafted by the T'wolves in 2002 in second round. I think they told him to go sharpen his game in the NDBL. I seem to remember reading something about him a couple weeks ago that the Wolves have no idea where he is now.

The main difference between football/basketball and baseball/hockey is the existence of a robust minor league system where newly drafted players are placed with other players at the same level they are.

Major League Baseball regularly drafts HS players, but who was the last HS player drafted that was sent immediately to the Major League club?

Hockey works much the same with all of the Junior Legues and minor league teams.

As far as the NBA, I think the long term plan is for the NBDL to serve as a minor league, but that is still years away from what I understand. The NBA draft has now shifted focus from demonstrated talent to potential. No team wants to be the one that passed on Joe HS player only to see the kid become a superstar in 3-5 years.

I think this shows that the main difference between basketball and baseball/hockey is that a much higher percentage of teenage professionals are able to play at the "major league" level in basketball than in baseball.

You said it yourself, when was the last time a HS draftee played MLB? Yet, we see regularly -- every year or two -- a HS kid who can play competitively at the NBA level.

The difference, it seems to me, is not that there's a minor league system in MLB. Instead it just seems that it's easier for HS kids to perform at the necessary level in the NBA than in MLB.

David Clyde of the Texas Rangers? Didn't he go right from being a high school phenom in Texas to pitching for the Rangers in a league game? And then blew his arm out permanently before his career really got started?

I agree with the comments that the kids are often not in the proper position and don't have the proper perspective on life to make a decision on whether or not to enter the NBA draft. As was mentioned, many HS players who declare for the draft don't get drafted in the first round and aren't guaranteed any money, plus they lose out on the chance to play in college and get an education. Many of these kids are surrounded by bad influences and yes men and cannot properly evaluate their talent level, making decisions with inflated egos rather than sound judgements. Do I think an age limit should be put into place by the NBA? No, I think the NCAA should be more flexible in its rule prohibiting players who've signed with an agent from being eligible.

As for the comment in the article that college athletes are neither interested nor qualified to get a college education, that statement is pure ignorance. Athletic scholarships have opened the door for thousands of student-athletes, enabling them to get a quality education while bettering the school's sports programs and generating revenue. Many athletes take advantage of these opportunities that they might otherwise not have had and parlay them into successful careers. Most student-athletes that I know take their academics very seriously, although I agree that basketball and football players may be a bit more lax. That, however, is a commentary on the individual and not the system.

I think you're right for sports in general. I've known several teen-agers who used a sports scholarship to get a good education and go into another field after college. In the high profile sports, I think it's very difficult to pull that off. A friend of my daughter's competed in gymnastics for Oregon State when they were in the top five teams in the country. She was very very good. And she took her academics very seriously, knowing there was no professional career in the future, and that she'd need other skills. It took her five and a half years to graduate. One of those years, she didn't get scholarship money and had to ask her parents to pay. It's just the way it was. I expect it's even harder if you play basketball at Duke, or football at Michigan (some years) and so on.

It's a bit of a stretch, but he also fails to acknowledge a very important point:

The route to the NHL for the majority of players is major junior hockey. In Canada (and remember, the majority of NHL'ers are still Canadian), once a player enters major junior, he forfeits his U.S. college eligibility. It is very much a one-way, all-or-nothing shot. The reason only 22 percent of NHL'ers graduate college is because only 22 percent (probably less, actually) of NHL players actually even go to college on their way to the NHL.

Also, when Wayne Gretzky debuted in Pro Hockey (with the old WHA) he was actually 17, not 18.

You beat me to that one. As a huge Gretzky fan, that was my first thought when I read the article.

I like this guy's argument and was with him all the way, until he threw race into it. If his editor had just clipped that paragraph, it would have been a great article.

I also don't think it's David Stern's place to tell these kids what is better for them. (His they should stay in school line.) He is not their parent and doesn't get to make that decision. They should decide for themselves what is best for them.

The only age limit I could agree with is 18, and that is for legal reasons.

Had to bring this one back, as a sports fan instead of an official. :)

I, along with other members of my family, continued my education after high school because the facts of life are, as we are all told....the more education you have, THE MORE MONEY YOU WILL MAKE. ( One of the MAJOR advertisements for " Stay in School " is the amount of money the average HS graduate makes versus the drop out!) Now, the college days are hard to remember for some of us, but I dont recall any of my friends saying they are going to school so that they just know more. WE WERE ALL THERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DIFFERENT SUBJECTS FOR TWO REASONS: 1)Because we wanted to make more money, and 2)Because the school required you take these other classes not associated with your major so that your education isnt one dimensional. ( ie - so your able to make money in other areas if your major doesnt work out.)

It all comes down to money, and this point is not negatioable. ( sp? ) When we say that these kids should go to college and not turn pro, why are we sayign it? Should they go to school to......?? Yes, education is important. But look at the situation and the world objectively. Do you believe that you would get more out of college now, than you did when you were 18? Yes :) Can these people go to school at any time after their careers? Yes.....Can they make multi-millions of dollars with their abilities at any time in their lives? No....

And my last point is that it saddens me to see many people use the argument of failure or possible failure as a reason to make a law/by-law " for the kids (adults) best interest " because he " just doesnt know any better " and could possibly fail. All of those kids have a very legitimate possibility of acheiving something they have more than likely dreamed of for the previous 5-10 years....Sh** half of us on this forum have or have had the same dream. And along with this possibility of acheiving a dream comes a helluva lot of money. Money these kids can use to make more money. The ones who dont make it, STILL HAVE A LONG LIFE AHEAD OF THEM.

You cant criticize these kids for making the decisions that they make. You can only think about what you would do, or what advice you would give them if they were your son. Respect the decisions that they make, and hope that the ones who have and do fail ( at pursuing a DREAM! ) either try again, or find another path in life.

1) Coulda, shoulda, woulda......versus 2)Tried.Failed.Tried again.Failed.Found something new and tried.Succeded ( or failed.Tried again)??????????????

I'll fight to take #2 and die lovin it.

Sorry, had to throw this one in here as well after discussing the topic with a few friends of mine who are black.

While I am not in 100% agreement with the writers assessment of the racial reasoning behind the outcry for age restrictions, I will have to say that believing this assessment is pure ignorance is..well...a tad ignorant itself. :)

Racism exists everywhere, and by no means is limited to white people. During a contest where one team was completly white, and the other team was completly black...after calling a foul on a player on the team that was completely black, one of the players turned to me and said, " What, you don't like your own kind?" ( I ignored the comment, but would I have done the same if a white player had made a similar type of racist comment? I can NOW honestly say that I would have....but I was a bit younger and had a different view on life/racism back then, and believe my reaction would have been drastically different )

When you have the same " we don't want you to be equal or better than us " attitude presented towards you by others of a certain ethnic background in so many other life situations, you are going to be skeptical and assume that the same philosophy is being applied now that you are poised to possibly become a multi-millionaire. I don't believe that this is any type of excuse for anything, because there are going to be people your entire life that are going to hate you and want to bring you down for a million other reasons, and you have to ignore it continue to improve yourself and meet your personal goals.

So while I respectfully disagree that the race aspect is the reason behind this outcry, it certainly is there from some. ( But that is the way life is! How are you going to deal with it is the question!!) So I also have to respectfully disagree that the mention of it is ridiculous. The racism factor is there, but to the majority of American Blacks that I know including myself, believe it is a VERY small percentage of American Whites who think this way.....and bothers us very little if at all. ( As a side note, I think racial relations would be much better if some blacks began finding ways to continue life in a positive manner without using " White guy's racist " as an excuse for failure/failure to try......and if some white people were more open in admitting the fact that there is racism factored into decision making and the exclusion/attempted exclusion of others. Again, this is not limited to white people only.. but lets face it....when you are the MAJOR majority, it just happens more...and racism has a history of creating racism in reverse, unfortunately. And in both races it seems that the very few sometimes ruin it for the majority :( )

The person who wrote this article is obviously more upset and bothered by racism or perceived racism than the average person.

Savaahn Ty
**Please insert IMHO at any time when reading this post and feeling the need to argue my viewpoint :)**

IMHO, I THINK....
 

All kids that want to enter Professional sports should have to attend at least one year of college! This gives them a year to be on their own and adjust to life without their parents and other things. If at that time they can enter a draft and perform up the the level of professional athletes, more power to them......just my 2 cents :)

Why are professional sports different from other jobs? If you can defend your country at 18, you should be able to make a living too.

What about kids that don't qualify for college?

Sebastian Telfair lived in a project where 2 people were killed in his lobby. Why should he have to go to college to get out of the projects?

The NCAA's ridiculous rules make it difficult for the gifted athlete to resist professional careers. Colleges make all the money and give nothing back to athletes. Scholarships are only for one year at a time and can be rescinded. An athlete can get injured and end up out of school and penniless. Many athletes are steered into cupcake classes to maintain eligibility and never come close to earning a degree.

Sebastian Telfair can easily afford to go to college after his NBA career is over. Or start his own college.

I think this is probably the best point to make. There's no outcry when a kid gets A's in his body shop class at a vocational technical school and then goes right to work in a body shop after he graduates HS. He's become a productive profitable citizen doing something that he's good at.

Seems to me the same is true for athletes, especially if it is obvious that he will be drafted. (When it's borderline or speculative, that may be a different story.)

Could that be because the goal of vocational HS is to teach a kid something he can be good at so he can graduate & get a job?

Could be, I guess, but I don't think so. I think the lack of outcry is b/c the kid is working, being productive, and "making something out of himself". I don't think the lack of outcry is b/c of where he learned his skill, although I won't swear to that. If he went to a traditional HS, but worked in his dad's body shop since he was 13, I still think that his decision not to attend college would be regarded as a good one by most people.

(And yes, Juulie, I recognize all the gender-based assumptions in above paragraph. I'm just too lazy to fix them this morning :) )

You don't think the goal of vocational HS is to teach a vocation?

That's rather extreme.

Hardy-har-harrrrrr. You're soooooooooo funny, Junior Barnes. <font size = -4>You gunkie.</font>

:)

I thought it was pretty funny....LOL

I think where pro athletics and college athletics go wrong is in dealing with the player who is marginally gifted for pro sports. William Avery is a prime example. He left Duke after his freshman year for the lure of big bucks. He was drafted in the second round (no guaranteed contract), and, then, pretty much disappeared from the basketball radar. So, unless he saved his money wisely, returning to college has been made that much tougher. The NCAA should back off its rules a little, and not declare kids ineligible until they sign a contract. Maybe Avery would've changed his mind, and returned to school, after he discovered his worth in the NBA market.

In addition, David Stern has to worry about the league's image more when dealing with under-21 players. While LeBron James had no problems adjusting, Kwame Brown may never make it. What does an 18 year-old do after a game, when his teammates go to a bar? Hopefully, he doesn't hang out with Kobe.

if a player has the skillz, it should be his choice. but how about mandating "maturity classes". how to manage money (i'm not saying introducing to investors) just some common sense instruction. how about they are required to hire a baby sitter, for lack of a better word. not a home boy but someone the league has approved who can help them for a year or 2.

i've always thought the babysitter idea would have helped alot of players (Barkley, Rodman, Etc) who trouble kept finding. and of course they should be required to pay for it themself but the league should decide fees so nobody gets taken advantage of.

many people probably won't like this idea but if you want to come into our league and make millions, this is how it is. you represent the reputation of our league and we don't need anymore houlagins.

Umm, William Avery was drafted in the first round (14th) by the Timberwolves and played three years for them. He is currently on the 76ers roster.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/player...s?statsId=3337

Oops. Sorry about the misinformation. Didn't mean to.