Comments on: Shaquille O’Neal says players should have to stay three years

By: imwhitewolf

imwhitewolf — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:26:56 +0000

I guess by extention those “naive, undereducated” young men and women serving in our military shouldn’t be able to enlist (and kill people) until they are 21. What a rediculous statement you make. People are considered adults, for legal purposes, at 18. If a person wants to try to make it in the NBA, after all it is just a job, right out of high school, let them. Like any other job there will be ones who make and ones who don’t. Those who don’t can get on with their lives doing something else.

By: frankenderek

frankenderek — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 16:37:19 +0000

UkRaiders has the perfect answer. Baseballs system is perfect for the NBA. Or maybe modify it where you you can either go to school for three years, or the D League for one out of high school.

By: omniusprime

omniusprime — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 13:46:54 +0000

Shaq hit the nail on the head, there should be a three and free rule for every sport, not just basketball. Far too often these naive, undereducated athletes go to the pros way too soon making way too much money and not knowing how to handle the pro life or all that money. Pro athletes should be educated enough to be responsible since they are held up as role models and so few who come out of high school ever achieve that.

By: txnative61

txnative61 — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 08:28:06 +0000

I think Shaq is trying to make the point that the level of Professionalism in sports needs to be elevated. The salary levels of professional athletes often exceed those of attorneys, physicians, engineers, journalists, accountants, agents and a host of others while adhering to an abysmally low education standard. I think no matter what the collegiate standard, the first year major should be “Professional Athlete”. This would include the “professions” of coaching fundamentals, physical training, leadership, personal financial management and communication. Regardless of the many options to be chosen later, the university owes the athlete the fundamentals of the profession be included with the scholarship. I see the Players Union to be the proper driving force for mandatory continuing education with the goal of making a degree available to all its members. I don’t see reasons for various League’s opposition to such set asides, since they really only stand to benefit.

By: schlom

schlom — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:25:27 +0000

The NBA might be looking at something like this as they are really trying to develop the D-League into a viable minor league system. I think if the the NBA and NFL formed their own develop system instead of forcing the NCAA to do it a lot of problems would be solved.

By: ukraiders

ukraiders — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:10:16 +0000

I wish they would use the baseball rule. Go pro out of high school but if you go to college your not eligible to be drafted for 3 more years. Davis and Rose can go to NBA but the rest refine their game in college instead of clogging up a bench for 3 yrs.