Kobe, Garnett, Howard, James. They might as well be allusions to “greatness.” Kobe, Garnett and James already have a one-way ticket to the Hall of Fame and Howard is playing very well to be compared with the four-time champion and legend, Shaquille O’Neal. All of these players lead their team and bring out the best in them by being the X-factors of the game. Bryant, when healthy, brings at least 30 points to the game, and does his best at facilitating the offense. James leads the Cavaliers, consisting yet of unknowns to become the number one team this season. Howard, if he actually shoots his free throws, can be deadly to any team with his built-up physique from head to toe – all six feet and 11 inches of him. Along with these similarities in leading both their team and the NBA, all of these players had to make the choice. The choice that would allow them to skip four years of collegiate life for a straight route to the NBA.
“Out of all of them, my favorite would be Kobe Bryant, because he’s amazing at his game and he’s extremely smart,” junior Marquel Iwabuchi said. “He got accepted to Duke, can speak three languages but he skipped the opportunity to go to the NBA.”
Bryant is one of the 1.3 percent of high school students that receive a professional contract. As a child, he lived in Italy and learned how to speak Italian and Spanish. He then went to the U.S. to play basketball for Lower Merion High School and received a scholarship from Duke, yet he turned it down. After Kevin Garnett turned down a college scholarship and instead went to the NBA, he caused a monumental change in the drafting system and also in the viewpoint of basketball players, as to whether they could skip college. Bryant and fellow player, Jermaine O’Neal started to rethink their choices and followed suit. Bryant, since then, has won four championships with a successful franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers, and also has own an MVP award for both the finals of 2009 and the season of 2008. Jermaine O’Neal, on the other hand, faced a different side of their pursuit. He has been traded around, from the Trailblazers to the Miami Heat, and has been plagued with injuries that caused him to warm the bench for a few seasons.
“High School students shouldn’t skip college to go to the NBA,” sophomore Chinwe Duru said. “If you get hurt, and if you’re unlucky and get injured, what are you going to fall on?”
The choice to go pro quicker instead of four long years of a college careers has been a hot topic in the NBA, as it has been regulated and finally agreed upon by David Stern and his fellow executives. NBA players have been getting younger each year, pushing Stern to change the requirements. There were arguments here and there, one saying that all should go to college all four years,a nd another argued that all players should have the choice. Stern finalized the rule to one year of college – one measly year of learning.
“They’re not challenging basketball players anymore,” Duru said. “The expectations for us are just to get above a 70 so that we can play basketball, and now the rule can be just for one year of college. Look at Kobe, he’s great because he’s smart. How can we be great at what we’re playing if we don’t develop our minds?”
Other circumstances, of course, call for other measures, but materialism dominates all choices. The faster and bigger the contract, the faster money and the faster a “better” life comes along the way.
“If you’re young, and you’re as good as Candace Parker, you should skip college and just go to the WNBA,” sophomore Breanna Calloway said. “If you have faster money, you can buy your education later.”
Garnett and most of his followers demonstrated that faster and younger athletes can suit up against veterans and challenge their experience with speed and agility. The latter viewpoint is what allows these talented, promising, young players with contracts from usually slow franchises, such as the Bobcats or worse, the Knicks. Age is what it all comes down to. Age will allow these players to grow into the NBA with more years of experience and that development is what these slow franchises are looking forward to. Although, some like O’Neal slip up along the way, most turn out to be great.
“It depends on a player’s circumstances actually,” Iwabuchi said. “If you’re as good as Kobe, or you had his talents, then you should just go to the NBA and come out as an energetic rookie, or if you really need the money then you should go, but if you can wait, you should go to college.”
The passing of time is inevitable, and time in the NBA is precious. Thirty years old in the league can be ancient, an age only a great player can have and still play. College seems so undesirable in wasting away four years, when one could go pro. But the matter is up to the athlete, which one is more valuable to them? Good education while playing basketball or getting a fat paycheck while playing basketball?
“Basketball can take over your life,” Duru said. “If it makes up every aspect of it, then it shouldn’t be called ‘life’ as it is. Education, I think, should always be the first priority, but it’s always a choice.”
