No, but who would turn down a free ride, babes babes babes, basking in the glow of fame? If they had to pay? No way!
Scottie Pippen says Zion Williamson should ‘shut it down’ until NBA draft
- Thread starter mktmaker
- Start date
You are correct, the G league offer was this year and not really valid for Zion, but guess what: virtually no top prospects will ever go that route, unless they can't be admitted to college. Why? Because they know if they get "taken advantage of" for a year or maybe two, they will be rewarded with huge contracts and money.
Have you ever heard of "paying your dues"? Of course for this one year, Zion, as one of the best and most popular players in all of CBB is vastly undercompensated. Will you say that next year, when he's signed a rookie contract worth millions and received endorsement deals worth 10's of millions? In 3 years when he's signed a max contract and more endorsements worth 100s of millions on the path we are on? Yes for a year, the very best players are undercompensated, but they are paying their dues until their time comes and they cash in.
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Why should he have to pay his dues? Because you say so? Because the NBA enjoys having an extra year to protect their GM’s? Reality is that he has already paid his dues for 18 years of life and now he is an adult who should have the right to work if he wants.
Nothing’s guaranteed even with a player as talented as Zion. The NBA has essentially stolen a year of his earnings and no one really knows how many he has left. Any potential second contract or max contract has been delayed by a year as well.
I know you’re an old school bad ass that believes in paying your dues and commitment to your team, but you’re not the one leaving Millions of dollars on the table.
If you are 6’8/ 270 with a 45 inch vertical let me know and I’ll shut up right now.
I couldn't care less either way. Trust me, Zion doesn't want to "pay dues" the way I did, nor fortunately for him, does he have to. I have no problem with allowing kids to go straight to the pros, but I also have no problem with the current system because it impacts so few kids "negatively". And in Zions case by negative I mean making him wait 10 months to reap 10's of millions of dollars. And guess what? Without the Zions of the world, literally hundreds or thousands of kids might not have the opportunity to earn a scholarship in other sports, arts or academic pursuits.
Let the top players go straight to the pros; I could not care less. But then you'll be the one bitching because your cousin's kid who's a terrific runner, wrestler, violinist or student can't get a scholarship or they eliminated his/her sport. I'll worry about the unemployment rate, affordable housing, healthcare, etc... but no, I won't lose a bit of sleep over how Zion's being taken advantage of.
Oh. So because there are bigger problems in the world than the NBA 1 year rule, that means it's not really a problem at all.
Stop saying pay your dues. That term implies you do something necessary and tough for a while, so you can reap the rewards later.
The one year rule is unnecessary, there is no real purpose to it, it doesn't apply to paying your dues. If the goal is getting to be a Top 5 draft pick, a year in college does nothing to help Zion progress toward that goal.
So you analogizing the fact that you had to wash dishes to get through college or work in the mail room or whatever your version of paying your dues was, just doesn't make sense.
It absolutely did help him progress towards that goal. He's going to be a top 5 pick no matter what now, probably 1 or 2. Last year, maybe he was, maybe he wasn't... he is a 6'6" PF who looks like he could put on a lot of weight ala Anthony Bennet from a few years ago. But, as has been said, no one made Zion go to college. He could have played overseas or trained for a year on his own and entered after he turned 19, right? But then, would he have been a top 5 pick? Maybe yes, maybe no. He'd still have the same concerns about height and weight. Kobe Bryant was the 13th pick straight out of HS. Do you think Zion is better than him? Do you think Kobe being picked so low was affected by not playing college ball? Would he have been picked higher if he had torn up college for a year? Undoubtedly. So, let's say Kobe plays a year of college, is POY and is now the #1 or #2 draft pick the year after. He's going to make millions more and coming out a year earlier probably didn't make him any more $$ at all, because he was drafted far lower and had to play on that lower contract a few years. So yes, I'd say there is value in playing a year of college and paying your dues, even if you are "taken advantage of".
Saying he's a position-less player means you haven't watched an NBA game in the last 10 years or Zion maybe ever.
He could absolutely play a wing or a stretch in today's NBA and slide in quite easily. "Power Forward" is not really a position any more, at least not on good teams.
And yes he would have been a Top 5 pick last year.
Bryant played in a different era. He was only the 6th player ever to forgo college. It picked up significantly in the ensuing years until 2004.
So to use his niche situation as some sort of example...... I'm sorry, it's just not applicable.
I was using the position to highlight the point that he's relatively short and wide. That's going to breed doubt in any GM's mind, that has been eased or erased by... wait for it: playing a year of college bball!
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