The New York Times
November 13, 2005
Sports of The Times
The N.B.A.'s New Age Rule Will Get Old in a Hurry
By SELENA ROBERTS
THEY are certainly a breed of wildlife fitted in custom suits for their harrowing journey to March Madness in search of a perfect end, but this isn't the methodical "March of the Penguins."
This is Coach K, his arms waving on the sideline with the desperation of a stranded motorist. This is John Calipari, his jaw comically dropping with a "Zoink!" sound effect on every foul call. This is college coaching.
And these obsessive souls of the business are enough of a whirling dust devil on the job without feeling pressured to try on Don King's dust-bunny wig.
And yet, in the leadup to last week's national signing day, some must have felt forced to all but sign one-year promotional deals with talented teenagers who might have been bound for the National Basketball Association if not for the new age-eligibility requirement.
It's 19, not 18 anymore. It's one year of college, not a prom-and-done proposition now. It is an ill-conceived piece of phony feel-good legislation on every level.
A year to mature, a season to grow, the N.B.A. caretakers will tell you. As if a freshman year is an introduction to adulthood and responsibility instead of beer bongs and campus gals who aspire to be Carolina Panthers cheerleaders.
As if it would have been better for good-citizen LeBron James to put on a freshman 15 rather than for Carmelo Anthony to put in a cameo at Syracuse before appearing in the underground "Snitch" DVD as an N.B.A. player.
The Pacers' Jermaine O'Neal eloquently described the age limit last year as an uncons utional rule directed at black athletes. Together, with the recent Mister Rogers dress code, the N.B.A. is precariously close to being perceived as a league trying to brush itself with a whitening system.
While the National Hockey League promotes the wholesome Sidney Crosby, and the Ladies Professional Golf Association benefits from Mic e Wie's pro decision on her Sweet 16th, the N.B.A. is hoping its future stars of the baggy-jean age outgrow their hip-hop phase with a year in the hands of a college coach.
Let Bob Knight teach, mold and scold them into scouts. Let Mike Krzyzewski shower them with warm hugs as he transforms them into upstanding Dukies. Let college be the N.B.A.'s fly-by farm system.
As a reward, top college coaches will receive a teenage savior on their roster. But the N.B.A.'s added rule is not college basketball's gain.
Did Ohio State Coach Thad Matta receive a gift or a burden on signing day? He is the recruiting genius of the moment after Greg Oden, the 18-year-old 7-foot center from the Hoosier state, proclaimed his love for the Buckeyes.
Oden said he had planned on giving college a try, but, in truth, he didn't really have an option. He was forced to pass on millions as the N.B.A.'s projected top draft pick when the age rule went into place during the summer.
Legal to vote, Oden's freedom of choice was stripped away. He is the object of college expectation now. If the Ohio State faithful believe a national le is just a season away, so does Texas after the next-best high school prospect, Kevin Durant, hooked on.
Who will coach the next Carmelo Anthony? Who will coach the next Dajuan Wagner?
In his freshman year, and his only year, Anthony left Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim with a life-affirming le. In Wagner's one and only season at Memphis, he left Calipari on a stopover to the N.B.A. How is a coach supposed to guide a player who is on a temp job?
"In terms of public perception, yes, there is pressure on the coach," said Jim Haney, the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. "People say, 'We're a lock to be successful; we should be the national champion.'
"They want this player to be to their school what Carmelo Anthony was to Syracuse. But in reality, that was an anomaly."
In reality, insta-saviors are problematic for a coach. The high school players know what their alternatives to college are - invisibility playing in Europe or risk of exposing weakness in the N.B.A.'s development league - and crave the N.C.A.A. limelight to improve their draft status.
"The big thing is if the player is thinking of a one-year stint in college as his way out," Haney said. "He may not be playing for the team, but for his rookie contract. That's a real issue."
The one-year delay strategy by the N.B.A. does not aid in development, it only complicates it for the starry-eyed player and the frenzied coach.
"If you're a player who has one foot in and one foot out of the relationship, it's destined not to go very far," Haney said. "A coach has to wonder: Is this someone who is going to be attentive? Is he going to put time into the weight room or be part of the team?"
All good questions. But who has time for perspective?
The N.B.A.'s new age requirement doesn't encourage a cozy connection between a college coach and a high school star. It only confuses the roles between diva player and diva coach.
E-mail: [email protected]
* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
That's the Players Union's fault for not agreeing to a 20 year old age limit.
Eloquently?Quote NYT: The Pacers' Jermaine O'Neal eloquently described the age limit last year as an uncons utional rule directed at black athletes. Together, with the recent Mister Rogers dress code, the N.B.A. is precariously close to being perceived as a league trying to brush itself with a whitening system.
That's total bullcrap, are regulations for the NHL uncons utional and directed at caucasians?
It's bullcrap (or, more specifically, not eloquent) because no part of the United States Cons ution applies to either the NBA or the NHL.
The NBA and NHL are outside the purview of the Cons ution? I'm no lawyer, but explain me this.
The Cons ution, as a do ent, doesn't apply to relationships between private individuals or groups; it applies only in instances where there is state/governmental action.
For instance, if you work for a non-governmental en y, you have no First Amendment rights in the workplace, and your employer could search your office/cubicle/locker/whatever at any time it wished (absent some contractual limitation). In the NBA, this is why the league can fine players for the things that they say and suspend players for the things that they do without a trial or a hearing.
There are statutes that protect some of the rights addressed by the Cons ution in a private context ( le VII and other similar laws), but as noted above, things like the First Amendment have no application in purely private relationships.
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