It’s payday for every kid who bounces a basketball.
Tonight’s NBA Draft goes beyond which big man the Washington Wizards will select. (Please don’t tell me it’s some 7-footer from Senegal that makesManute Bol seem ready-made. The Wizards may be picking 18th, but find someone who’s not a project.)
Draft day is about the dreams of kids as young as eight years old thinking about the day they can dunk. It’s about the 1,100 kids at Maryland coach Gary Williams’ camp this week who envision appearing on their own video game.
Kids today think about getting paid. They’re not worried so much about their high school team. Or their college team. Unlike most sports, kids know they can be playing professionally on TV at 19. It feels reachable to them.
“That’s the ultimate goal,” Williams said, “even if you’re 14, 15, 16.”
The NBA is an understandable distraction. Wave tens of millions of dollars along with the fame and all of us are headed in that direction.
But it has become a siren’s song. Only 60 players get the nod over two rounds. Many won’t make the team that drafts them and some aren’t even U.S. players. The first pick, held by Toronto, could be Andrea Bargnani of the Italian League. I have no idea who he is. Find Ken Beatrice in retirement and call him.
The NBA’s lure has greatly harmed Maryland. John Gilchrist left after his junior season last year and wasn’t drafted. Had he played his senior year with Marlynad and not in Israel, he might have been a first-rounder.
Now it’s Terps seniors Nik Caner-Medley, Chris McCray and Travis Garrison who will be judged. Caner-Medley has the best chance of the trio at the end of the draft, though McCray could be taken, too. McCray was so blinded by the NBA that he flunked out of school midway through his final year. Hopefully, it’s worth the early departure that probably cost Maryland a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Garrison might as well pack for Europe because he is so headed for the continent. That is, if Garrison can perform his community service overseas.
If Caner-Medley and McCray are drafted, maybe it will lessenthe sting of leaving College Park the moment after the underachieving season ended. Skipping the final month of class may cost Maryland a future scholarship so hopefully the players’ selfishness wasn’t a complete waste.
It gets harder and harder to keep the players in college. Williams finds himself regularly advising high school prospects not to look ahead to the NBA.
“I tell players to enjoy where you are at the moment,” he said. “If you’re a high school player, feel fortunate you’re playing high school ball. When you get to college, enjoy that. Things take care of themselves. Really good players get the opportunity to play in the NBA, but you can’t live that dream and hurt yourself at the level you’re at.”
George Mason’s players could testify over enjoying the moment. The only Patriot from the Final Four team that might see pro ball is Jai Lewis, and he’s in an NFL camp. Plan B is basketball in Europe. The rest are NBA tryouts at best before looking abroad, which, by the way, pays pretty well, too.
George Washington’s splendid season has J.R. Pinnock and Pops Mensah-Bonsu hoping to become second-round picks. The Colonials’ parts were better as a whole, though.
College basketball is so much more interesting than the pros. But try telling that to the kid working on his jump shot. He’s spending his summer inside the gym hoping to get paid one day.
Now it’s payday. Let’s hope someone makes the money because a whole lot of people have been working towards it for a long time.
Rick Snider has covered local sports for 28 years. Contact him at [email protected].
