Blatent Irony 
NBA Superstar Jermaine O'neal thoughs on the perposed league age limit
I wanted to write something thought prevoking and meaningful in response to this. I was on all the sports news radio shows and ESPN has been talking about it all day. Of all the aspects of what Jermaine was talking about I think the irony of the comment is worth commenting on.
Jermaine O'neal was drafted into the league in 1996 by Portland. I find it funny that he used two other High Schoolers as examples of why things should stay the way they are (LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire) who have florished in the league from day one. But Jermaine seems to have forgoten that he nearly dropped off the map with the Trailblazers. He was a late bloomer and never fit in with the hundred or so forwards that were in the league at the time. A couple of years in college would have done him well to develop his game at that point. Also a couple of history classes would have done him good to actually know what he was talking about. The point he made about going to war was initially made to justify 18 year old Americans the right to vote. A vote that is greatly differnt than playing in the NBA. But I will give it to him that it isn't a totally invalid arguement.
Second he compared the policies in baseball and hockey with basketball saying that nobody goes after them. Well, baseball and basketball have something that basketball doesn't have. A developmental or minor league system. A system that helps players not ready for the majors develop. Not all players in the minors ever even make it to the majors but it a place they can live out their dream at least to live out their dreams and play the game they love. The NBA does have the NBDL (
National Basketball Development League) it is not nearly as organized as the other minor leagues or college. A better comparison would be baseball, basketball, and hockey to the NFL. A league that does have an age limit and is doing pretty damn well. Is the National Football League raceist because they have an age limit?
Lastly, this might be me just being too sensitive about this topic but it must be said. Do black people, especially young black people , know what it is to be black anymore? What Jermaine O'Neal did, probally without knowing it, is use the race card to justify and validate his existance. Being black (as will any other group identification) is to identify yourself with people who have something in common with you. And with some social responsibility help you make decissions that would benifit your group as a whole. Now should he have the chance to make millions of dollars yes. But should he have a higher responsibility to members of socity that should be educated. Definitly. The truth is that very few people have the ability to get into the NBA. But thousands try to follow there dreams into making it to the league. By getting an agent they totally disqualify themselves from being able to obtain a college scholarship, totally limiting their chances for having a full and successful life.
Where is the obligation. The connection with your fellow African-American, urban, and young brothers and sisters. Easy, there isn't any. With the current system not only with the game of basketball suffer and further erode, but our young people in the urban and impoverished areas of our country will continue to believe that the only way out is play a sport or something worse.
People don't understand that education is not a right, its the law. 100 years ago there weren't any public schools or libraries. Education was the right of the priviliaged and successful. Even eariler than that, your were denied the right of instionalized education because of your race. Knowledge is the only tool all peoples have for empowering themselves. An age limit isn't going to keep black kids from the NBA. It's just going to make sure they have the chance to develop mentally and physically to be better prepared for the league. Then again I ame getting older so I might just need a nap
Just an opinion from somebody that doesn't really matter - mTony
TORONTO - Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal hinted Monday that racism could be a factor in the NBA's proposal to set a higher age limit for players entering the league in the next collective bargaining agreement.
"As a black guy, you kind of think (race is) the reason why it's coming up," O'Neal told the Indianapolis Star before Monday's game against the Toronto Raptors. "You don't hear about it in baseball or hockey. To say you have to be 20, 21 to get in the league, it's unconstitutional. If I can go to the U.S. Army and fight the war at 18, why can't you play basketball for 48 minutes and then go home?"
NBA commissioner David Stern wants to raise the minimum age for the NBA draft from 18 to 20. O'Neal said he would be willing to listen to arguments for raising the age limit.
"In the last two or three years, the Rookie of the Year has been a high school player," O'Neal said. "There were seven high school players in the All-Star game, so why we even talking (about) an age limit?"
O'Neal made the jump from high school to the NBA in 1996. Cleveland's LeBron James and Phoenix's Amare Stoudemire, who won the past two Rookie of the Year awards, also made the jump straight from high school.
I wanted to write something thought prevoking and meaningful in response to this. I was on all the sports news radio shows and ESPN has been talking about it all day. Of all the aspects of what Jermaine was talking about I think the irony of the comment is worth commenting on.
Jermaine O'neal was drafted into the league in 1996 by Portland. I find it funny that he used two other High Schoolers as examples of why things should stay the way they are (LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire) who have florished in the league from day one. But Jermaine seems to have forgoten that he nearly dropped off the map with the Trailblazers. He was a late bloomer and never fit in with the hundred or so forwards that were in the league at the time. A couple of years in college would have done him well to develop his game at that point. Also a couple of history classes would have done him good to actually know what he was talking about. The point he made about going to war was initially made to justify 18 year old Americans the right to vote. A vote that is greatly differnt than playing in the NBA. But I will give it to him that it isn't a totally invalid arguement.
Second he compared the policies in baseball and hockey with basketball saying that nobody goes after them. Well, baseball and basketball have something that basketball doesn't have. A developmental or minor league system. A system that helps players not ready for the majors develop. Not all players in the minors ever even make it to the majors but it a place they can live out their dream at least to live out their dreams and play the game they love. The NBA does have the NBDL (
Lastly, this might be me just being too sensitive about this topic but it must be said. Do black people, especially young black people , know what it is to be black anymore? What Jermaine O'Neal did, probally without knowing it, is use the race card to justify and validate his existance. Being black (as will any other group identification) is to identify yourself with people who have something in common with you. And with some social responsibility help you make decissions that would benifit your group as a whole. Now should he have the chance to make millions of dollars yes. But should he have a higher responsibility to members of socity that should be educated. Definitly. The truth is that very few people have the ability to get into the NBA. But thousands try to follow there dreams into making it to the league. By getting an agent they totally disqualify themselves from being able to obtain a college scholarship, totally limiting their chances for having a full and successful life.
Where is the obligation. The connection with your fellow African-American, urban, and young brothers and sisters. Easy, there isn't any. With the current system not only with the game of basketball suffer and further erode, but our young people in the urban and impoverished areas of our country will continue to believe that the only way out is play a sport or something worse.
People don't understand that education is not a right, its the law. 100 years ago there weren't any public schools or libraries. Education was the right of the priviliaged and successful. Even eariler than that, your were denied the right of instionalized education because of your race. Knowledge is the only tool all peoples have for empowering themselves. An age limit isn't going to keep black kids from the NBA. It's just going to make sure they have the chance to develop mentally and physically to be better prepared for the league. Then again I ame getting older so I might just need a nap
Just an opinion from somebody that doesn't really matter - mTony
posted by Unknown at 10:18 PM
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