If both Greg Oden and Kevin Durant do decide to enter the NBA Draft after their freshmen seasons in college, wouldn't it be great is both came up to the podium at the theatre in Madison Square Garden in New York after their names were called, shook hands with Commissioner David Stern and said, "Thanks Mr. Stern and thanks to you and National Basketball Players Association Executive Director Billy Hunter for selling us out and costing us millions of dollars."
Both Oden and Durant could have been in the NBA this year, but they were not allowed to work in Stern's business because Stern decided he didn't want 18-year-olds around and Hunter suddenly agreed as 18-year-old high school graduates were barred from entering the workforce because of a new collective bargaining agreement.
Hunter had said he was against Stern's proposal to raise the NBA's minimum age entry from 18 to 20 and in fact, he was against raising the age minimum at all. But in the 2005 agreement Hunter traded off 18 year old entry for other benefits which meant that Oden, Durant and for the foreseeable future any talented high school senior who had the ability would not be eligible to play in the NBA under the terms of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Had the agreement been in place in 1995, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Lebron James would have had to sit out a year or go to college or go to Europe or play for the Harlem Globetrotters (like Wilt Chamberlain did until he became NBA eligible) or in the Continental Basketball Association. There was not a minor league option for either Garnett or Bryant in those days.
Lebron has been an NBA selling point since the day he declared himself eligible for the NBA Draft and just in case you haven't noticed, after Lebron arrived in Cleveland in 2005, the Gund Brothers sold the franchise to Michigan businessman Dan Gilbert for $375 million. It's doubtful that the Gunds would have been able to get that much money for the team without James.
Stern had no problem using the high school graduate James in marketing opportunities and James' marketing partners had no problems that he was 18 and barely out of high school. Stern has never had any problems with the great 18-year-olds who bring back a return on the investment. It's the ones who don't that cause difficulties.
But all 18-year-olds do make decisions. Some are good, some are bad. That's life. Major League Baseball signs 18 year olds, Freddie Adu played in Major League Soccer at 14, the National Hockey League draft includes 18-year-olds, and there are younger people on the tennis and golf tours. An 18 year old can join the military and vote and is considered an adult.
Because sports is filled with emotion and rationality is never applied to the business, you end up with inequities like the NBA barring 18-year-olds and the National Football League having a rule where entry players need three years of college before joining the group.
The NFL went to court and an appeals judge reinstated its rule after a lower court said it was not legal.
Stern rattled off numerous reasons when asked about the age minimum including how he didn't want NBA scouts in high school gyms or how some parents of an 11 year old said that their son was going to be in the NBA and other hard to believe rationales. But he never addressed the real reason the he and his NBA owners wanted the age restriction.
Money.
NBA owners had rolled the dice on a number of players like Taj McDavid, Leon Smith and Korleone Young who came out of high school and were busts. Jermaine O'Neal floundered on Portland's bench during his first contract, and then became an all-star with Indiana when Portland ownership decided not to pursue him when his contract ended. Portland did all the research and development on O'Neal and Indiana got the benefit. Chris Antsey, Kendrick Perkins and Kwame Brown did not become All-Stars but there are many who are drafted at 19, 20 and 21 in the same boat.
It was not the rookie contract that bothers Stern and the owners, it was the second contract. O'Neal showed nothing in Portland, yet his original contract was up when he was 21 and he had ability, the question then becomes what do I pay him and for how long. The Toronto Raptors had the same problem with Tracy Mc Grady. Orlando signed Mc Grady
The thinking was this. If Stern and the owners could push back the age minimum, they could also push back the time when a player could become a free agent whether it was restricted after three years or full free agency after four seasons. Its easier to evaluate a slightly older player when its comes to offer that player a second contract. They would also get free research and development from colleges and universities. Players can get better or worse in the college game and NBA owners didn't have to pay them millions to learn the business.
It's all about money.
Only a handful of 18-year-olds are good enough for the NBA, Oden and Durant might have had the right stuff to get into the league this year.
Oden and Durant probably would have the right stuff for the United States Military. While Stern wanted his scouts out of high school gyms, the military has been busy in high schools trying to recruit soon to be 18-year-old high school graduates to sign up for service. Stern doesn't think the NBA is the right environment for an 18-year-old, but the military has no qualms signing up an 18-year-old and getting on a high school campus.
The NBA and college basketball is fluff entertainment at best; the military is life and death. The priorities seem to be out of whack.
So Oden and Durant are deprived of making a few million at the age of 18. They will get their fair share, if they choose to do so, starting at the end of June when they are drafted. But what if they suffered career threatening or ending injuries in their year at school? Would the NBA care? Probably not. Maybe someone would take them on the second round where there is almost no financial risk. It's all about money.
Oden and Durant are part of the NCAA March Madness-CBS money machine now making money for their schools and Summer Redstone's CBS multi-media platforms. They should have had a choice, make their own money or go to college. Because Billy Hunter sold them out, they are in college for now.
It's all about money.
