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Every time a high schooler goes straight from the senior prom to the NBA or a college star is found to have a microscopic grade point average, the call comes for a basketball farm system similar to the one in baseball—someplace where players who are not ready for the NBA but have no interest in college can develop their skills. The Continental Basketball Association is making a concerted effort to become that place. The plan, according to CBA commissioner Steve Patterson, is to give the players a chance to develop their basketball skills while earning a living. Patterson hopes to sign about 12 such players a year—including college freshmen and sophomores who may have realized that school is not for them—to contracts averaging about $30,000. The league wouldn't completely ignore the education of its younger players; the CBA is working with Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society to develop a life-skills program similar to the one the center devised for the NBA. Among the players the CBA has pursued so far is 17-year-old New York prep star Lamar Odom, who was released from a letter of intent to play at UNLV after the validity of his ACT score was called into question. If the CBA succeeds, the NCAA would have fewer players masquerading as student-athletes, which would leave more scholarships for players who really want a college education. It might also stem the flow of young players trying to enter the NBA before they're physically or emotionally ready. Though the NBA has been noncommittal about the experiment, the league should be rooting for it wholeheartedly. —Phil Taylor |
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