Picking up where I left off
Picking up where I left off from my last blog post, I was speaking to the tune of America and it’s love of sports. We love sports so much that we so often turn a blind eye to what’s actually happening in the world and the United States. The NBA is good, it’s something for basketball lovers to look forward to. It allows impoverished kids to pursue their dream of becoming a millionaire and providing a better life for their family. Jimmy Butler would be a great example of that exact story. Growing up he was homeless, basketball was his outlet. He ended up playing at Marquette University and getting drafted to the NBA. Sports was his way out of what could have been a poor life or even death, (maybe a stretch), but it was his outlet. So many young athletes now-a-days try to blaze their own path to professional sports while putting their education on the back burner. Look at college football for example. Every year when it gets closer and closer to National Signing Day, these high school kids produce thousand dollar videos to show where they’ll be playing football next season. Yeah that’s cool and all, but what are you going to study there? What are your goals if you get hurt, if you don’t make it pro, if you’re not good enough at the next level?
Today’s NBA is the same exact way. Thankfully the NBA made a rule that you had to be at least 18 to play in the NBA which meant that it was no longer permitted to come straight out of high school to play in the NBA. Instead, you can go to college for one year, take bogus and useless classes, and get drafted in the first round, it happens every year. I’m no mathematician, and I’m not even good at basic math, but the last time I checked, if there’s 50 people who retire from the NBA each year or have career ending injuries, or just don’t get a contract extension, and there are 70+ new kids coming in to the NBA, there’s an overpopulation. Granted some come out because they need the money, who doesn’t need money. But Chris McCullough from Syracuse University went to the NBA because he was having a child and needed to provide for his family. He and his girlfriend had an unexpected pregnancy, and he needed to provide. He entered the NBA because he got a signing bonus and would get a contract. Even knowing that he may not make millions, he may only play in the NBA for the length of that first contract, but he would have money to provide with. Maybe Europe after the NBA or something else, but that’s noble.
So many kids come out of college after one season because they’re the “best.” They truly believe that they’ll be the next Kobe, LeBron, MJ, etc. That’s great, it’s great to have lofty goals and it’s great to pursue something that’s so difficult for many to do. But they also need a reality check. There’s so many kids entering the NBA every single year, that those who aren’t actually good enough go down to the NBA G-League, formerly known as the D-League, that’s because Gatorade bought the league, a pretty nice investment on their part. But the G-League know is essentially kids Junior and Senior years of college since they’re still young and playing basketball, just not getting an education.
There’s a lot of hodgepodge in the NBA now, which is part of the reason why I’m a bigger fan of college ball. Way more intense and a lot more thrilling. But I know I’m not alone in this argument, but I do enjoy talking about this type of stuff. Growing up, in school we always hear about how we’re the future of the United States, we’re going to be tomorrows leaders. It’s just different to see now how we are today’s leaders, we actually are the future, but kids who are younger than me, even 5 years, don’t care about the future, they don’t care if they can read a book in it’s entirety. There’s a lot wrong with today’s society, America, the world.
This will continue until we do make changes to our own lives and to the world.
Winans Writing Consulting 