Teenage ballers

https://www.finalcall.com/national/nba05-29-2001.htm

A new reality of the same old game of athlete exploitation?

by Saeed Shabazz and J. Coyden Palmer

(FinalCall.com) --- Pro basketball prognosticators predict June 27 at least four high schoolers stand a good chance of realizing a dream shared by thousands of their peers: the coveted chance to play in the National Basketball Association, after hearing their names called at this year’s NBA draft at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

And even though three of the league’s top players, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady are "baby ballers," who jumped from high school courts to pro arenas, there is still the debate about whether "kids" should make such moves.

One voice questioning the high school-to-pro-leap is the man who made it all possible: Spencer Haywood. It was a Supreme Court decision in the 1970s, that opened the door to the hardship draft, and knocked out an NBA decision to keep him out of the league before he finished college.

"Although I do understand the need to support families, my intention was not to eventually eliminate players’ skill development," said Mr. Haywood, a former NBA star.

When he left the University of Detroit to play in the then NBA-rival American Basketball Association, his mother was living on $30-a week and his family was picking cotton in the Mississippi Delta. He was one of nine children and needed to make money. At 19, he jumped to the ABA, inking a six-year $1.9 million deal. When the NBA’s Seattle Supersonics came calling, he wanted to sign. An NBA rule said no player could be drafted before his four years of college eligibility was up. He took the league to court. The high court struck down the rule in 1971. The decision became known as the "hardship rule," and under that rule players can become eligible for the NBA draft—regardless of college or high school standing.

Thirty years later, Mr. Haywood fears the rule has been abused and isn’t necessarily good for players. On average, an NBA career lasts a few years and with an influx of foreign players, the total number of already scarce pro slots will dwindle lower, he said.

At the same time, more high schoolers and college players are going hardship, whether their families actually need the money or not.

"Now you have high school players looking at the NBA as some sort of panacea. That’s taking away from the education aspect of a high school student," Mr. Haywood argues. "A student is supposed to try and accumulate as much education as they can. You must have some intellect," he said, speaking May 16 in Chicago to promote the August 4-5 "Spencer Haywood Who’s Who Hall of Fame Dinner" and "Shoot The Hoop Reboot Celebrity Basketball Game." Organizers say some proceeds from weekend events will go toward helping charter schools purchase computers and text books.

NBA Commissioner David Stern would prefer not having any players in the league who are younger than 20. But the NBA players’ union would have to agree to change their bargaining agreement. Union head Billy Hunter told The Final Call, the union isn’t ready to talk about it. Some sports agents threaten court battles if the NBA seeks age restrictions, which would impact their pool of potential big money contract talent. In this year’s upcoming NBA draft will be some 48 college underclassmen and high school players.

"Many athletes in his or her 20s are not equipped to handle the celebrity status and big money contracts—and for most teenagers it is an impossible task," warns Dr. Carole Lieberman, a psychiatrist in Beverly Hills, Calif. "We agree in our field that the biggest adjustment from high school to pro ball is the mental and emotional rather than the physical."

"Very young NBA players have special needs, particularly in the area of maturing as individuals. As long as that’s recognized and provided for—there is no reason why highly skilled high schoolers can’t succeed in the NBA," counters Tom "Satch" Sanders, a former Boston Celtic who works as a league consultant.

The debate is a mix of arguments about money, player exploitation, morality, education and opportunity.

Once Spencer Haywood went pro, Moses Malone from Petersburg, Va., skipped college and joined the ABA in 1974. He signed for $300,000 over 10 years. He later starred with the NBA Philadelphia 76ers, winning a championship.

In 1974, Bill Willoughby and Darryl Dawkins skipped college for the pros. Mr. Dawkins, known as "Chocolate Thunder," possessed a gift for backboard shattering dunks and had success. Mr. Willoughby lasted some years in the pros, but had injuries and never quite lived up to his original billing.

It was 20 years later, in 1995, that another baby baller entered the NBA: Kevin Garnett signed with Minnesota, then Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O’Neal entered the league in 1996, followed by Tracy McGrady. There have been 14 high schoolers drafted since Mr. Garnett.

The draft debate reached the boiling point around 1997, when sports writers around the country repeated college official complaints the NBA was stealing talent. Commissioner Stern shot back, "Look at tennis, golf, baseball and other sports, and nobody talks about their players’ ages. Only for the NBA and NFL does it seem to be an issue."

Talk also turned to how the NCAA made millions off of "amateur" athletes, as the athletes struggled. One media account described how pro star Chris Webber, while playing for the University of Michigan couldn’t afford lunch at McDonald’s, but watched jerseys with his name and number sell for $90 in the campus store. Previous sports scandals have ushered in an era where athletes are denied many overt perks and face restrictions on part-time work and gifts.

The exploitation exposes helped fuel a mass exodus of young college players into the NBA, led by Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury, according to observers.

Besides the money made by schools, there is also the money needed by athletes’ families.

"In many cases the responsibility of bringing economic stability to one’s immediate family becomes a large burden to bear," Dr. Lieberman said.

"If a kid truly has the ability to go out and make a lot of money, you can’t hold them back," said DePaul University associate head coach Tracy Dildy. "I personally believe you go to college to position yourself to make a lot of money when you leave there. So if they can find a quicker way to do that and it’s legal, I really can’t cry foul."

He points to how tennis, golf and figure skating have had very young athletes raking in big money. But Mr. Dildy is concerned about how it applies to basketball, fearing players aren’t developing their games by forgoing college.

"The typical student athletes of today differ substantially from their predecessors, they usually arrive on campus with lower academic qualifications," commented Bob Williams, founder of the Bronx, N.Y.-based Sports Foundation. "What we find is that the parents play an extremely important role, they know what their child can handle," he added.

And with the family often needing money, community organizations like the Sports Foundation can’t mount any successful public campaign against drafting high school ballers, he said.

"I do not believe that these young people should be drafted, they need college, they need to get all that higher education has to offer," states Tommy Konchalski, a New Yorker who rates prep basketball talent for publications like Street and Smith.

"Remember that when Kevin Garnett signed with Minnesota he said that he would have gone to Michigan, if he had qualified academically. Mr. Garnett was not patient enough to go the junior college route to improve his grades," he added.

Kevin Garnett, an NBA All-Star with the Minnesota Timberwolves, is the picture of the successful high school to pro transition. Leon Smith, out of Chicago’s King High School, may be just the opposite.

Drafted in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs in 1999 and traded to the Dallas Mavericks, he was reportedly urged to spend a season oversees or in a developmental league. He reportedly refused. Soon afterward, he was placed on injured reserve with a back problem. During that period, the young man tried to commit suicide by taking 200 aspirins. He was distraught over a failed relationship. He had also been raised in a series of group and foster homes.

In February 2000, Leon Smith became a free agent. New legal problems spawned 18 months probation imposed by a Cook County Circuit Court judge for a misdemeanor charge of criminal damage to property.

"Things like this have to be taken into account. Most teenagers are still capable of doing child-like things. It is important that they have time to mature–the NBA is not the place to grow up," Dr. Lieberman insists.

The NBA commissioner is considering an eight-team developmental league to begin in November 2001. It would play a 56-game schedule, and be limited to players age 20 or older. Exceptions will be made for high schoolers drafted by NBA teams and cut.

Mr. Haywood believes the developmental league will only make matters worse. Paying players less in the new league and giving them a non-college option will only help the NBA, he said.

What’s needed is to redirect the focus back to education and preparedness for life, Mr. Haywood said.