OT: Jalen Green spurning Memphis, heading to G-League

[Jbirdp5]

After this week, he is a household name. He was the biggest news in sports last week.

I’m sure he won’t get the same deal a Zion got either. But he’ll definitely get paid.

It will be interesting to see what kind of deal he gets. His story was a big deal for sure, don’t know if he’s a big deal though.

 

[Pmurph678]

"Sure he benefited from Duke. No more than he would have benefited from UNC, Kentucky, Kansas, etc, etc.

How much did he benefit? Put a number on it, then prove it. "

I agree with the above, Zion benefited from playing at a major college program.

You're saying he would not have lost leverage by going to the G-League, does that mean he would would have benefited equally from playing in the G-League as he did at Duke?

 

[bfs3]

I can only speak for myself but the very first g league game I’ll watch is when ESPN airs the all star freshman rookie team vs the minor league pros. I’m definitely interested in tuning in. I’m sure they’ll find a way to monetize the games and market the players. I do wonder if it’s worth it for the guys not in that starting line-up but we’ll see how they do it.

 

[MDHuskFan]

I posted tangible numbers that tie directly to his social media accounts reflecting the change post committing to Duke. The argument being made isn’t Duke vs other blue bloods though like you’re trying to twist it into, it’s College athletics vs the GLeague.

The longer you keep going, the more and more it seems like you’re just being argumentative for the sake of having an argument.

 

[Lefty2one]

After taxes the kid will have 250K in his pocket, and after living expenses, buying a car, and dropping big $$ on clubs and other stupid buys, he’ll have next to nothing.

Nice of you to assume that every kid is an idiot.

A 19 year old is going to be dropping big money in clubs? Doing what, buying soda? It's not 2001; kids are much savvier when it comes off the court habits and I'm sure the Select Team will have plenty of structure and advisors.

This against the prospect of a major injury and walking away with no life skills seems to be exactly why a little schooling might be a better path.

Except for the fact that the NBA is giving Green a scholarship to use at a later date, thus giving him a better safety net than any one-and-done player has ever had. If he has a major injury he still gets his undergraduate degree at no cost to him.

You think one-and-done kids--some of who don't even put up the facade of attending spring semester classes--get something out taking a half dozen 101 courses?

 

[BlueDogs]

The exceptions you cite don't disprove the point. The vast majority can and will do the minimum - with no repercussions until it's too late. The college's really don't care.

I think the schools generally do care (the AD not so much except for compliance ). I also would think, given the probability of making it to the NBA and then sustaining it, the vast majority are best served at least having some skills to negotiate their way through life. Even the least motivated are required to conform to a learning environment and marginally learn. That’s better than the alternative, aimless, helpless ignorance.

 

[Lefty2one]

Zion was a household name but mainly due to his athleticism/dunks/being an Instagram sensation, even though he was a consensus Top 5 recruit.

There wasn't a single preseason mock draft that had Zion at #1 going into the season. He was somewhere between #3 and #5. Barrett was the consensus top pick before the season started and plenty of people had Reddish above him too. Many people thought Zion was just an athlete and were worried about his height. Having one of the best and most efficient ACC seasons in history surely helped him--plus seeing him on the same court as Barrett and Reddish for 30 games showed beyond doubt that he was better than those two--but I'm sure he would have been the top pick regardless of if he went to college or the G-League.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

On the contrary, like in Rashad McCant's case, many athletes are actively steered by administrators into no show, no work classes that effectively remove any and all benefit from attending college in the first place.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Why in your opinion did he get 150% more than the average contract then.
Why a kid who wasn’t projected as the number one overall pick or even the best player in his class coming in would get that deal with or without colleges exposure.
You want to have the argument but keep changing the position you’re coming from. You’re saying he was a household name already (from Instagram) then say you don’t want to talk about how his reach grew post committing to a college.
Then you say the conversation about contracts is flawed because who’s sampled and the 1 & done rules, but then only want to reference their contracts.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I think the schools generally do care (the AD not so much except for compliance ). I also would think, given the probability of making it to the NBA and then sustaining it, the vast majority are best served at least having some skills to negotiate their way through life. Even the least motivated are required to conform to a learning environment and marginally learn. That’s better than the alternative, aimless, helpless ignorance.

The difference between skills to negotiate their way through life and "aimless, helpless ignorance" is a few months hanging out on a college campus? I think you underestimate how much savvier the kids are these days and I think you WILDLY overstate how much time they have to spend doing school-related things.

 

[MDHuskFan]

This is a CBB exposure vs the GLeague, you keep wanting to make it solely about duke. Dukes just the example for this cause it’s where Zion went. Zion proved to be more than an athlete on a big stage, when there were questions surrounding people wanting to see if he was more than a dunker. Additionally, he proved to be more than a viral sensation.

This is a waste, though, neither of us are going to agree with the other.

 

[the Q]

The difference between skills to negotiate their way through life and "aimless, helpless ignorance" is a few months hanging out on a college campus? I think you underestimate how much savvier the kids are these days and I think you WILDLY overstate how much time they have to spend doing school-related things.

From what I’ve read, he average d1 athlete is 30ish hours per week.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

From what I’ve read, he average d1 athlete is 30ish hours per week.

It seems reasonable to you to lump in basketball players at Louisville, Michigan State, Carolina, Baylor etc. with the tennis team or the field hockey team at Princeton? (And, in my experience, those #s would be wildly inflated even for the Ivies.) They're at school to play basketball. Emeka Okafor is the exception, not the rule.

 

[the Q]

It seems reasonable to you to lump in basketball players at Louisville, Michigan State, Carolina, Baylor etc. with the tennis team or the field hockey team at Princeton? (And, in my experience, those #s would be wildly inflated even for the Ivies.) They're at school to play basketball. Emeka Okafor is the exception, not the rule.

They have to attend classes and study halls and do some amount of studying and homework to stay eligible. Class time alone is 12-15 hours plus a few study halls you’re already over 20.

 

[mussels]

A Nike sneaker disintegrated when he was wearing it in a nationally televised game that everyone was watching.
In the aftermath, he could have made a lot of statements that would have been perfectly true, and signed with another shoe company. Do you think this may have had something to do with the size of the contract ?

 

[bendm]

They have to attend classes and study halls and do some amount of studying and homework to stay eligible. Class time alone is 12-15 hours plus a few study halls you’re already over 20.

lol. the number of hours spent in 100-level classes and doing homework isnt the issue, it's the value of those hours, which is minuscule

unless of course theyre taking "how to negotiate a shoe deal 101" and "economic theory of supporting an entourage" etc.