The Drubbing

Stan Van (or SVG if you prefer) is never one to shy away from controversy or put his nose where it doesn’t belong. His latest victim, the NCAA. In a post-game interview after an NBA Finals loss, Van Gundy called the NCAA “about the worst organization going.” And called the NBA’s age limit “a sham.” Every organization has their own set of problems, some more than others, but Stan has gone a little far here, as usual.

I have my own issues with the NCAA, several of them in fact. But the NBA (flagrant fouls), MLB (steroids), NHL (Gary Bettman), NFL (protecting quarterbacks), NASCAR (Chase for the Sprint Cup), PGA (FedEx Cup) are no gems themselves. So to label the NCAA the worst organization out there is just a slight exaggeration.

Dwight Howard is a man among boys every time he steps on the court

But here, Stan is picking on one of the few things things that is being done right, and actually isn’t even done by the NCAA. It’s an NBA rule. It’s no doubt related to the NCAA as players that don’t meet the NBA’s restrictions most often land on an NCAA basketball team for a year (perhaps two if David Stern has his way).

Van Gundy brought this issue up during an NBA Finals which features five players out of the ten starters that didn’t go to college before playing in the NBA. Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol all passed on college before entering the NBA draft.

Gasol started started playing professionally in Spain at the age of 16, which may have contributed to his injury-riddled career and was actually 21 when he played his first NBA game in 2001. Turkoglu also skipped on college and played professionally in Turkey before being drafted at the age of 21.

Of Andrew Bynum, Rashard Lewis, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard, the players that went from high school to the NBA, three of them are perfect cases for one or more years in college before heading to the NBA. Bynum’s body has suffered from the pound of NBA big men and is averaging only 53 games per season. He didn’t become a significant contributor to his team until his third year and wasn’t a starter until his 4th year.

Rashard Lewis benefitted from being drafted by a team that was in the basement of the NBA. So they could afford to depend on less-experienced players, but even he didn’t become a major contributor until his third season. Then there was Kobe Bryant, the air apparent. The biggest thing in high school basketball between Chocolate Thunder and LeBron James. He started six games his first season, one games his second season, and 50 games his third season.

Dwight Howard is the obvious exception. Out of all of the aforementioned players, Howard was the only one that was “NBA ready” in his rookie season. He’s played in 82 games in four out of his first five seasons and has averaged at least 12 points per game in every season.

So until the NBA can build a better record of players successfully making the transition from high school to college, I’ll stick by the NBA’s age limit. And for the players and families that don’t like it, they always have the option to go get a paycheck and experience overseas. College isn’t right for everyone, that’s why the NBA gives kids options, while still attempting to make sure they’re better prepared for life in the NBA.