| Wednesday, March 29
By David Aldridge Special to ESPN.com |
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So I'm in Syracuse this week doing the NCAA men's East Regional finals.
(Hey, I'm versatile.) And about five seconds after I sit down to watch Seton
Hall's practice on Thursday, who should walk by but Billy Packer, King of
College Basketball. He says he likes my work. I say thanks.
And then I listen for 20 minutes while Packer slams everything about the
NBA. The new arenas. The quality of play. The Commish. Especially the
Commish. Boy, does the Pac Man have a thing for the Commish. He holds the
Commish responsible, and I am not making this up, for the destruction of
American civilization as we know it. Ask the guy next to me if I'm lying.
(Well, actually, I don't know who the guy next to me is. I told you -- this is college basketball.)
| | Leon Smith was a star last year for his high school team in Chicago. |
Anyway, Billy is raving on and on about this new minor league that the
NBA is proposing to start in 2001. It will be horrible for basketball,
Packer says. It will encourage even younger kids to start thinking about
becoming a pro. Now you'll have nine and 10-year-olds seriously plotting
how, eight or nine years hence, they can be in The League.
And I'm listening to Packer ramble. I know he's been bashing the pros
for a long time, and I've always thought the reason was a wholly
self-serving one. If the college game stinks, then Packer loses his sphere
of influence. But while I was listening to him, I realized that on this
subject, he and I agree on a lot more than we disagree.
This minor league idea is just that. Minor. Not worthy of the best
commissioner in the history of sports.
I know the league has been searching for an answer to this whole idea
of keeping teenagers out of the NBA. They can't set an age minimum without
collectively bargaining it with the union. The 1971 Spencer Haywood case
severely limits what they can legally do to keep young players out. They've
tried to come to some understanding with the NCAA, but can't seem to get a
meeting.
But is this the answer? How can this possibly do
anything other than encourage dozens, if not hundreds, of high schoolers
from foregoing college altogether? Why on earth would a 12th grader with
marginal grades and lousy SATs, who only looked at college as a means to get
the NBA, even think about going to State U when there's a $25,000-a-year job
waiting for him playing ball?
Maybe you say that's not a bad thing. That it's time for the NCAA to end
the hypocrisy of "student-athletes" and stop putting kids in school that
a) don't want to go there in the first place, b) struggle mightily with the
curriculum and the realities of being in a social environment radically
different from their own, and c) are targets of the predatory leeches and
hustlers from the moment they walk on campus.
Maybe you're right. But that shouldn't be the NBA's business. The NBA
shouldn't be fostering the notion that anybody can play pro ball. That's the
problem now -- too many kids who think they have game.
Moreover, how will the players in this league be chosen? Will there be
a draft separate from the college draft? Will the players simply be those
who are cut from NBA training camps? How do CBA players figure in? (My guess
is they don't, since that league was purchased by Isiah Thomas -- who hasn't
been able to get the league at all interested in his idea of officially
affiliating CBA teams with NBA squads.)
I have no doubt that in certain ways, this league could address a lot
of issues. There are high schoolers who are hellbent on giving the pros a
shot. That genie is out of the bottle. And it would be a great place for the
likes of Korleone Young and Jermaine O'Neal to get meaningful playing
experience. And maybe learn how to balance a checkbook.
But isn't there the chance it could go the other way? That an
18-year-old may try it, decide he's not ready for life in Spokane or Austin
or Rochester, and want to try school? What happens to him? Why would the
NCAA possibly cooperate?
I just fear that there is an unspoken reason for trying to start this
league that has nothing to do with wanting to help a young man's transition
to adult life and work. I fear that ultimately, you'll see teams in this
league in "minor league" cities like Montreal and Mexico City; Sao Paulo and
Birmingham. (That's Birmingham, England.) That these cities will be
test-driven to pump more NBA product around the world.
I've heard Leon Smith's name mentioned. That this would be a perfect
place for this troubled young man to play ball until his skills and body
mature enough to be able to slug it out with grown men.
There's no doubt that Leon Smith didn't belong in college.
But this is no place for him, either.
Piston talk
I know I said last week that the Pistons wouldn't be all that crazy if
they went after Bill Laimbeer. But just keep this in mind: Even if the local
media is fanning the flames, it is far from unanimous among the Detroit
braintrust. The Pistons have been reborn under interim coach George Irvine.
Players love his no-nonsense but quiet way. If they're playing selfishly,
he'll tell them in front of the others, but won't scream it. And even if
Irvine doesn't want the gig full-time, it'll be difficult to hire his exact
opposite in terms of demeanor.
Also, if you think Grant Hill is sold on Laimbeer, think again. Hill
will really need to be convinced. He did a commercial with Laimbeer a while
back and, according to a source, found the time with His Royal Sneerness
quite grueling.
Zo on Timmy
One reason why Alonzo Mourning says he isn't worried about Tim
Hardaway's physical condition is he doesn't think the Heat need Tim Bug to
get back to his best crossover days in order to win. Even though Mourning
concurs that Hardaway may occasionally try too hard to show people he can
still play.
"Because of his injuries, it's kind of set him back a little bit, but
he's still effective for this team," Zo says. "I don't think we need all his
athletic ability for us to be successful. We don't need that. All we need to
do is run our offense, 'cause I think he's still able to get into the paint.
"I mean, look at John Stockton. He don't have a whole lot of athletic
ability. I mean, look at Jeff Hornacek. He doesn't have a whole lot of
athletic ability. But those guys are mentally tough, so when the game gets
tight, they execute the hell out of their offense, and they break the best
defensive teams down. They've broken us down ...Timmy can still shoot. He
hasn't stopped shooting the ball well. He's not able to do the things he
used to do, and his leg is slowing him down, but I know he's still effective
for us."
Let the Sun shine
The first thing Suns VP Bryan Colangelo did after Jason Kidd's 7 a.m.
surgery on Thursday to repair his broken ankle was call league VP of
operations Rod Thorn and tell him that Kidd will be back well before the
Summer Games commence in Australia in September.
It was only the latest
disaster that the Suns have had to face this season. They've had to deal
with Danny Ainge's abrupt resignation and Anfernee Hardaway's plantar fascitis;
Tom Gugliotta nearly dying after ingesting an herbal supplement in December
and then wrecking his knee; Rex Chapman undergoing an emergency appendectomy
last week and, now, Kidd breaking his ankle.
"I'm more of a crisis manager than a general manager," Colangelo joked,
kind of.
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Around the League
Larry Brown jumped on the Allen Iverson grenade last week, blaming
himself for waiting too long before suspending AI for one game. More
interesting is if Brown gets the extension he's been looking for.
As the
Philadelphia Inquirer first reported, Brown has a five-day window at the end
of every season in which he can walk from his contract. The Sixers want to
remove that clause before giving Brown a new deal. Brown's agent has been
negotiating with team president Pat Croce for three months. Croce originally
argued that coaches don't get contract extensions, a notion the Brown camp
dismissed as "ridiculous." But word is that the escape clause isn't a deal
breaker. Expect Brown back in Philly next season.
Brian Shaw on the
difference between Shaquille O'Neal in Orlando, where both played three
seasons, and in LaLa: "His acceptance of coaching. He respects Phil
(Jackson) a lot more than any coach he played for. He's allowed himself to
be more coachable."
Hawks finally ditched Isaiah Rider after he missed or
was late for "several" practices every week, according to GM Pete Babcock.
"He was probably late more than he was on time," Babcock said. "Children's
charities (where fine money is donated) are doing very well in Atlanta." And
did anyone notice that while Rider was accusing Dikembe Mutombo and LaPhonso
Ellis of turning him in to league security after an alleged marijuana
smoking incident in Orlando last January, he never (and still hasn't) denied
smoking weed? | |