I love this game.
It was a catch phrase applied to the NBA a few years ago. However it sums up the way I feel about basketball in general. I remember being young watching great games with players like Magic, Bird, Kareem, and Dr. J in too little shorts. I still remember when Mike got all six of his rings. Most importantly I remember the first moment I fell in love with Duke Basketball back in 1992. I love the game. Maybe it has something to do with my affection for tall men. Who knows. However basketball is and will always be my favorite sport. The intensity, the passion, and the physicality of the game. Nothing compares to it. I’m sure fans of football, hockey, and golf could make a case for their sport, but this is my post.
As usual, in the morning I check the night’s previous scores. Read any eye opening analysis. The thing that caught my eye on this eve to Friday:
A high school junior from San Diego, CA is going to forego his senior year to play professional ball in Europe. And I quote-
” I know I can do great things with my talent. My goal in life is to get better. Playing with the pro guys will get me a lot better faster. It will help me fulfill my dreams of playing in the NBA.” – Jeremy Tyler
Wow. I get it. I understand wanting to be challenged and improve on the gift that God has given you. As a parent of an athletically involved child whose been described as gifted in that area I can relate. At the same time I’m not willing to trade the potential for what his future could be over one thing. I think in today’s society so many of us have lost sight of our priorities. I get the dedication to the game and your craft but you’re trading time and memories that can never be retrieved. This young man is going to take a non traditional path to greatness. He’s bored. He doesn’t want to finish his senior year at his current school. He doesn’t want to transfer to one of the Big East prep schools. He doesn’t want to waste his time in the NCAA.
He will settle for a GED, but he won’t go to prom or walk across the stage at graduation. To think about that moment still gives me chills to this day. Then there’s the question of injury. What happens if his career is ended my injury he sustains. The contracts in Europe and other countries are nothing like what the NBA offers. He’ll settle for hundreds of thousands of dollars instead of millions.
“Education will always be there,” Jeremy said. “It doesn’t matter if I get it now or in three years. I can always go back. I’ll always have that to fall back on. I want to have a degree in business management.”
This story just disturbs me at such a deep level. There are several players currently in the NBA who are great that didn’t go to college. Kobe, KG, Dwight. In the years that it took them to achieve greatness with their respective teams, they could have earned a college degree. Still the decision was their own. At least they enjoyed high school and graduated they didn’t make a decision to forego that final year because it would be a waste.
I talk to my son constantly. I encourage him. I never lie to him. I tell him that as good as he is, there’s someone who may be on a different level that will cause you to reconsider your game. It’s fine to have dreams and aspirations but you’ve got to plan for your future. You have to ensure that you’ve got a backup in case things don’t go the way you want them or if life throws you a monkey wrench. Education is first. If grades don’t remain above a C and above. You don’t play. If behavior sucks, you don’t play. I don’t want to raise a diva who thinks the world should be handed to him just because he’s been told he’s great. Work hard for it. Respect those who are around you.
So what do you think? Do you agree Jeremy Tyler’s plan for the future?
April 23, 2009 at 10:03 am
Bad ideal, especially in this economy..this current world we leave in. I bet you there are thousands on young men with his exact story..who were high school legends, that got injured…and were left with nothing.
School is hard to go back to, once life swallows you up, you get distracted..and time flies by so fast.
I don’t think he is realizing exactly what he is sacrificing for a dream.
April 23, 2009 at 10:58 am
I don’t either and shame on his dad. I understand supporting your child’s dream and being an encouragement instead of a hindrance, but part of our role as parents is to look at the bigger picture, not just the right now or the bright side. So much could happen. Plus think of the culture shock. Is he mature enough to handle it. There’s so many what ifs…why not continue your education…get into a big school and surround yourself with a good support system. Personally I think NCAA play is as good as a preparation as anything. You’re basically saying you’re better than those kids and you don’t need. Listening and following is part of being great. You’ve got to earn what the payoff will be. Our morals have been tainted.
April 23, 2009 at 11:38 am
I think it’s a great idea. Going overseas in and of itself is a learning experience. Everybody’s not cut out for the rigors of academia…He can always go back to school…Your atheltic talents are fleeting…Nobody says anything about child actors, entertainers who don’t go to school..(A lot of them have Tutors but many don’t)…The economy is all the more reason to try to set yourself up for life…If I have a good chance at making millions within a couple of years by doing something I love….I think I would take the chance as opposed to going to school against my will, and possibly getting a degree in a field where I have to ask someone else for a job…Maybe it’s just me, but I love the unconventional approach…Not saying all of these kids are making a good decision to skip school, but this young man has a father who seems to be a self made man as well, so…Maybe it’s in his genes…I went to college because I was “expected” to go right out of high school, and wasted time…I shouldn’t have gone then…I wanted to go to the military…Culture shock? Nahh, I don’t buy that when there are 18 year olds in Iraq and Afghanistan…College is an experience…But I’m sure living overseas and playing basketball is too.
April 23, 2009 at 11:39 am
And most people who show no interest in college, probably shouldn’t go anyway…
April 23, 2009 at 11:45 am
I don’t agree. Skipping college is one thing. I’d even look twice at that. I’ve always took the stand to keep working in the background to get a degree, but to skip out on senior year of high school. I think you’re pushing the wrong priorities. Yes living overseas is a learning experience, but is he emotionally ready and mature enough to handle pro ball at the expense of his childhood and education.
April 23, 2009 at 11:46 am
As far as child actors and entertainers I think it’s too much for them as well. That’s why you see so many of them acting out and experiencing things that an adult should. They lose out on what it means to be a kid. I think you have to separate the child’s desire from the parents want…that’s where the bottom line is.
April 23, 2009 at 11:55 am
Again, I look at the military…There are teenagers shooting guns, not shooting baskets in foreign countries, and people think that’s “honorable…They are putting their lives in danger…And I’m with you on seperating the child’s desire from the parents…It’s wrong in my view, to push a child in ANY direction after they’re a certain age…Advice and counsel is one thing, heavy handed pressure is another…Do you know what that senior year of High School is like for these elite athletes? It’s a whirlwind…It’s nothing that even remotely resembles a wholesome, productive academic experience…They are prey for agents,boosters,sneaker reps, etc etc….Ask Chris Webber, Reggie Bush, Lebron James, and I could go on about whether or not they wish they would skip that senior year if they could…It’s not like they are learning anyway…Even when they DO get to college, most of these ELITE athletes have ZERO interest in studies…Some coaches on the college level don’t want the “one and done” players…That’s their prerogative, but realistically speaking, even if a lot of these guys don’t make the millions, they never had ANY interest in school anyway, so…what was really lost? I’m all for education…for those who want it…You have to WANT it…
April 23, 2009 at 11:56 am
You can ALWAYS get knowledge…and education…and I would turn in my high school diploma for $50 million dollars right now today!…Hell, for $500k!
April 23, 2009 at 12:06 pm
I guess the purpose behind it is what really bothers me. It seems like every child that can put a ball in a hoop or make a touchdown are planning their futures by age ten. I see it in the tournaments around here…kids thinking they’re balling and then they go play a tournament in Charlotte or Atlanta with kids who are twelve and already six foot four and realize oh this isn’t going to be so easy. I’m all for having dreams and pursuing that dream but you’ve got be realistic. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket and then drop a ton of bricks on top of that basket.
April 23, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Basketball in not a guarentee, its just not. I woul not allow my child to forgo his senior year for $$, to enhance his skills none of that.
College is a choice (uggh, I hope my kids go, I’m kinda lying when I say that its a choice).
A 17 year old cannot make that decision to me. I understand where you are coming from Macio, but I know for myself, as a mother, I wouldn’t support that decision.
April 23, 2009 at 12:23 pm
That’s it. Unfortunately at this point, college is not optional in my household. Whether it’s the University of 291, North Greenville, or a NCAA school you’re going. I just know how hard it’s been for me without it and I don’t want my children to know the same struggles. As a parent if faced with the decision I don’t think I could trust an agent, coach, or anyone related who saw this as a good idea.
April 23, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Curry is coming out, but I won’t be so rough on him. He’s bypassing his senior year of college to go ahead into the draft. He didn’t go last year, but he will this year. Talk about a rookie class…Curry and Blake Griffin…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_sp_co_ne/bkc_davidson_curry_5
April 24, 2009 at 8:25 am
D & I are betting $20.00 bucks a game on Celtics/Bulls, so far I’m up $40.00 bucks..yeahhh me!
April 24, 2009 at 8:40 am
So you are pulling for the Celts right. Those are my babies!!!!!! I just wanna rub Ray Allen’s head before I leave this world.