Why So Surprised?
USC found a new coach. Kevin O'Neill.
Nothing about the USC or Memphis "scandals" really surprised me. What has surprised me a bit is the cover up, I mean coverage. ESPN wrote a story about how USC found the disciplinarian they needed in order to get their program back on track. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Tim Floyd's problem wasn't his team's lack of discipline on the court but more his allegedly illegally paying off of one of his players. Big difference. I put the word "allegedly" in there because Floyd maintains that he never made the payment but instead resigned because he didn't want to fight the charges. Okay Sammy Sosa. Nice try. But getting back to the point, I'm more surprised when these guys get caught than by the fact that the cheating happens. Hearing about NCAA violations is like hearing about another slugger testing positive for steroids. They shock me about as much as traffic on the 405. Yeah, I'm hoping for some open road but in no way am I shocked and appalled at the 5 mph average on the freeway.
I'm not sure how dumb Tim Floyd had to be to personally give money to O.J. Mayo's handler but I think Floyd and others before him like Steve Fisher, Jim Harrick, Jerry Tarkanian, etc. have done their players more of a service by getting caught than they could ever have done by keeping "clean." When you think about it, what are these 18-year olds learning when they go through the college basketball system? Are the NCAA regulations teaching anything? Um, no. I would be shocked if there was a single clean Division I school out there when it comes to basketball or football. The best coaches in the country are the ones who are smart enough to avoid getting caught. If you believe that you're truly watching amateurs who are all in it for the love of their schools then I won't dare tell you the truth about Santa Claus, Elijah, and whoever comes through the door on Kwanza. But again, what are these coaches and the NCAA teaching these young men? Simply put, they're teaching them how to get around the rules and that when they do, that there are vast rewards awaiting them. Are we really so surprised then when these players try again and again to circumvent the law when they get to the NBA?
Take a look at the behavior of NBA players in the 80's and 90's compared to today. Better yet, take a look at the post game interviews from the 80's and 90's and compare them to today. Today's NBA generation is one filled with guys who have been catered to, taught to cheat, and almost never part of something greater than themselves. They were stars in high school. They either jumped straight to the pros or spent their obligatory year in college and then had the spotlight immediately thrust upon them. It is patently unfair to expect them to have matured and humbled when they were never given the opportunity to do so. Of course there are exceptions, players with stable families to guide them, others who opted to stay in school, but for the most part, today's NBA players are vastly uneducated because they never had to go to school or if they did, they never had to take it seriously. The players of the 80's and 90's at least had to play under college coaches who often ran systems as opposed to offenses revolving around stars. They weren't poisoned by today's AAU system. They played in an NBA that didn't cater to stars and egos but rather to teams, dynasties, and systems. They weren't followed by a 24/7 media and showered with attention. They were stars, some even icons, but they also had life experience outside of basketball and superstardom.
But as a professor once taught me, it does no good to talk about a problem without offering solutions and alternatives. So let's have at it.
1. Eliminate the One and Done Rule in the NBA.
Great in theory because it would eliminate a vast amount of the cheating at the NCAA level because the supreme talent wouldn't have to be bribed. They'd be in the NBA Draft where agents could do the bribing. But far too many high school players were declaring for the pros which watered down the talent and ousted serviceable veterans because their roster spots were gone to high schoolers who were never going to make it. Moreover, the NBA doesn't exist to improve the quality of life of 18-year old ball players or to accomplish social change. The NBA exists to make money. They figured out that they're better off waiting for high schoolers to show their talents against more established competition. I can't really blame them.
2. More Players Going to Europe.
I don't hate this as much as you'd think. I belive that there's something to be said about going abroad and discovering a world beyond the 8 square miles around where you grew up. However, I'm not sure an 18-year old is ready to be a professional basketball player in a country where he doesn't know the language and doesn't have the legal rights that he has here and may think he has in a place like Greece. Good luck enforcing your contract over there. I think for the right young man, someone a little wise beyond his years, Europe is a fine alternative. But, for the vast majority I think it's a poor option.
3. Pay the Players a Fair Share in College.
Before I get into the argument, just know that it will never happen, at least not while Title IX is alive and well. That's not a knock against Title IX because female athletes are not given their due far too often. It's more a statement of legal fact. The womens field hockey team will file a lawsuit the day the mens basketball and football players start getting paid. But, that being said, is there any other way? It directly contradicts our capitalist society to prevent clearly qualified players from fulfilling their earning potential. But more than that, these players are the key figures in billion dollar industries. Coaches get paid seven figures. The schools get an obscene amount of money and don't get me started on the good and noble NCAA. It's a complete joke that Kevin Durant could entertain a nation full of basketball fans while at the University of Texas but couldn't earn a dime for it. I know you're itching with the counter-argument that they get educations comped by the schools. But with their schedules and their ultimate job prospects, are these guys really given a fair chance to succeed at school? Are they encouraged to skip pracitce if they really need that extra study time? Does that college degree guarantee them a job that remotely compares to what they can earn playing basketball? Are the players encouraged to take classes in anything that could teach them how to handle their money? I'm guessing that "no" was the answer to these questions. In reality, playing college ball hurts the great player's earning potential more than it helps because of the risk of injury. These guys generate a boatload of money. Give them a kayak's worth.
Until anybody is willing to expose the elephant in the room, this system will remain in place. Tim Floyd did O.J. Mayo a favor because by getting caught, he taught Mayo that by breaking the rules there will be repurcussions. Maybe not criminal ones, but you don't always have to go to jail or get hit in the pocketbook to learn a lesson. Sometimes a shot to your reputation or having to deal with the ongoing criticism from your past transgression is enough. How many more O.J. Mayos, Reggies Bushes, Derrick Roses, etc., will it take before we lift up the curtain and call the NCAA and the universities out for? Unfortunately, I don't have the answer for that one and I'm not holding my breath for it to happen either.
Nothing about the USC or Memphis "scandals" really surprised me. What has surprised me a bit is the cover up, I mean coverage. ESPN wrote a story about how USC found the disciplinarian they needed in order to get their program back on track. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Tim Floyd's problem wasn't his team's lack of discipline on the court but more his allegedly illegally paying off of one of his players. Big difference. I put the word "allegedly" in there because Floyd maintains that he never made the payment but instead resigned because he didn't want to fight the charges. Okay Sammy Sosa. Nice try. But getting back to the point, I'm more surprised when these guys get caught than by the fact that the cheating happens. Hearing about NCAA violations is like hearing about another slugger testing positive for steroids. They shock me about as much as traffic on the 405. Yeah, I'm hoping for some open road but in no way am I shocked and appalled at the 5 mph average on the freeway.
I'm not sure how dumb Tim Floyd had to be to personally give money to O.J. Mayo's handler but I think Floyd and others before him like Steve Fisher, Jim Harrick, Jerry Tarkanian, etc. have done their players more of a service by getting caught than they could ever have done by keeping "clean." When you think about it, what are these 18-year olds learning when they go through the college basketball system? Are the NCAA regulations teaching anything? Um, no. I would be shocked if there was a single clean Division I school out there when it comes to basketball or football. The best coaches in the country are the ones who are smart enough to avoid getting caught. If you believe that you're truly watching amateurs who are all in it for the love of their schools then I won't dare tell you the truth about Santa Claus, Elijah, and whoever comes through the door on Kwanza. But again, what are these coaches and the NCAA teaching these young men? Simply put, they're teaching them how to get around the rules and that when they do, that there are vast rewards awaiting them. Are we really so surprised then when these players try again and again to circumvent the law when they get to the NBA?
Take a look at the behavior of NBA players in the 80's and 90's compared to today. Better yet, take a look at the post game interviews from the 80's and 90's and compare them to today. Today's NBA generation is one filled with guys who have been catered to, taught to cheat, and almost never part of something greater than themselves. They were stars in high school. They either jumped straight to the pros or spent their obligatory year in college and then had the spotlight immediately thrust upon them. It is patently unfair to expect them to have matured and humbled when they were never given the opportunity to do so. Of course there are exceptions, players with stable families to guide them, others who opted to stay in school, but for the most part, today's NBA players are vastly uneducated because they never had to go to school or if they did, they never had to take it seriously. The players of the 80's and 90's at least had to play under college coaches who often ran systems as opposed to offenses revolving around stars. They weren't poisoned by today's AAU system. They played in an NBA that didn't cater to stars and egos but rather to teams, dynasties, and systems. They weren't followed by a 24/7 media and showered with attention. They were stars, some even icons, but they also had life experience outside of basketball and superstardom.
But as a professor once taught me, it does no good to talk about a problem without offering solutions and alternatives. So let's have at it.
1. Eliminate the One and Done Rule in the NBA.
Great in theory because it would eliminate a vast amount of the cheating at the NCAA level because the supreme talent wouldn't have to be bribed. They'd be in the NBA Draft where agents could do the bribing. But far too many high school players were declaring for the pros which watered down the talent and ousted serviceable veterans because their roster spots were gone to high schoolers who were never going to make it. Moreover, the NBA doesn't exist to improve the quality of life of 18-year old ball players or to accomplish social change. The NBA exists to make money. They figured out that they're better off waiting for high schoolers to show their talents against more established competition. I can't really blame them.
2. More Players Going to Europe.
I don't hate this as much as you'd think. I belive that there's something to be said about going abroad and discovering a world beyond the 8 square miles around where you grew up. However, I'm not sure an 18-year old is ready to be a professional basketball player in a country where he doesn't know the language and doesn't have the legal rights that he has here and may think he has in a place like Greece. Good luck enforcing your contract over there. I think for the right young man, someone a little wise beyond his years, Europe is a fine alternative. But, for the vast majority I think it's a poor option.
3. Pay the Players a Fair Share in College.
Before I get into the argument, just know that it will never happen, at least not while Title IX is alive and well. That's not a knock against Title IX because female athletes are not given their due far too often. It's more a statement of legal fact. The womens field hockey team will file a lawsuit the day the mens basketball and football players start getting paid. But, that being said, is there any other way? It directly contradicts our capitalist society to prevent clearly qualified players from fulfilling their earning potential. But more than that, these players are the key figures in billion dollar industries. Coaches get paid seven figures. The schools get an obscene amount of money and don't get me started on the good and noble NCAA. It's a complete joke that Kevin Durant could entertain a nation full of basketball fans while at the University of Texas but couldn't earn a dime for it. I know you're itching with the counter-argument that they get educations comped by the schools. But with their schedules and their ultimate job prospects, are these guys really given a fair chance to succeed at school? Are they encouraged to skip pracitce if they really need that extra study time? Does that college degree guarantee them a job that remotely compares to what they can earn playing basketball? Are the players encouraged to take classes in anything that could teach them how to handle their money? I'm guessing that "no" was the answer to these questions. In reality, playing college ball hurts the great player's earning potential more than it helps because of the risk of injury. These guys generate a boatload of money. Give them a kayak's worth.
Until anybody is willing to expose the elephant in the room, this system will remain in place. Tim Floyd did O.J. Mayo a favor because by getting caught, he taught Mayo that by breaking the rules there will be repurcussions. Maybe not criminal ones, but you don't always have to go to jail or get hit in the pocketbook to learn a lesson. Sometimes a shot to your reputation or having to deal with the ongoing criticism from your past transgression is enough. How many more O.J. Mayos, Reggies Bushes, Derrick Roses, etc., will it take before we lift up the curtain and call the NCAA and the universities out for? Unfortunately, I don't have the answer for that one and I'm not holding my breath for it to happen either.
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