Steve Kerr and Adam Silver: ‘Let’s do what’s best for the kids’
Steve Kerr and Adam Silver are on the same page when it comes to fixing the current, broken, system of amateur basketball players entering the NBA.
In a story reported by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst earlier this week, Adam Silver shared the NBA’s plans to change a rule that had prevented 18 year-old players from entering the NBA draft.
Taking it several steps further, he also discussed intentions to completely overhaul the current system that players are shuffled through en route to the NBA. In light of the debacle that calls itself the NCAA, Silver’s plan, once fully developed will provide alternate routes into professional basketball and will protect players from the shady dealings of agents, runners, financial advisers, and other characters in Velour track suits along the way.
Silver talked at length about the responsibility the NBA has to the game of basketball as a whole and to young players who will ultimately be the future of the league. By engaging directly with elite high school players and taking more of an active role in their development, the NBA aims to ensure fair treatment of young players while better preparing them to be successful pros and well-rounded members of society off the court.
Several advisers of Silver’s are in the process of gathering information and exploring options in an effort to determine the best ways to make improvements to the system in place. According to Windhorst’s article, Silver is expected to release a fully detailed plan within the next few months.
Stemming from the reports, Steve Kerr was asked for his thoughts on allowing players to enter the draft after high school. He skipped past the comprehensive planning phase and threw out a concrete suggestion, and one that makes a lot of sense.
According another piece contributed to by Brian Windhorst for ESPN, Kerr talked about how it would make sense to allow players who declare for the draft and go unpicked to return to school.
"“Don’t keep this ruse going. We all know what’s going on. Let’s do what’s best for the kid and give them some options, and work together between the NBA and NCAA to find the right system. I think it’s entirely doable if you people just open their eyes.”“One of the things the NCAA needs to look at is, if a kid signs with an agent and he doesn’t get drafted, welcome him back. Why not? What’s the harm? We talk about amateurism and all this stuff, but if you’re truly trying to do what’s right for the kid, and the kid declares for the draft and doesn’t get drafted, you know what? Welcome him back. Do something good for the kids.”"
The NBA takes a unique approach to its players that is unlike any other professional sports league or governing body like the NCAA — they approach players almost like they’re parenting.
That’s not to say that the NBA is better, higher-minded, or morally superior to other leagues (they are though, by the way). It’s because they’re smarter. They aren’t making proactive changes like trying to protect players from shady business deals during a semester of purgatory out of the goodness of their hearts. It’s a positive. It’s an added benefit but the main point is that the NBA understands the mutual benefit of protecting players. As much as it will help players, it also ensures that a bunch of potential All-Stars aren’t falling through the cracks.
One of the NBA’s greatest strengths as an organization is its alignment of interests from the Commissioner’s office, to team owners, to players. NBA players are empowered and given leeway to market themselves, to bring attention to issues or causes they value, and to exist as individuals. Any attention on them is attention on the league and Silver and the league office have been glad to grant that privilege to players who haven’t abused it.
Meanwhile, the NFL has been ignoring/covering up, concussions, fining players for supporting breast cancer awareness during the wrong month, and trying to figure out what is or isn’t a catch. And the NCAA has been living in a log cabin that’s being hit with flame throwers from every angle. They also left the iron plugged in, the oven on,and they’re smoking in bed while hitting the smoke alarm like it’s a snooze button, hoping it will all go away if they can fall back asleep.
Players and coaches in the NBA universally respect Silver. Players and coaches in the NFL and NCAA respect Roger Goddell and Mark Emmert like the Hummer H2 respects fuel efficiency. Kerr and Silver echo one another’s sentiments on entry into the NBA while Bill Belichick is cutting the sleeves off his sweatshirt and Tubby Smith is talking about how he doesn’t think players should be allowed to transfer schools.
Back to Kerr’s idea though…
Allowing players who were not selected to return to school is only one small part of the league’s potential policy overhaul. It wouldn’t impact elite players at the top of the draft nor would it do much for most players entering the NBA straight from high school. It would however, help the droves of second rounders, fringe draft picks, and journeymen who make rosters as free agents.
As a 19-21 year old surrounded by pressure, conflicting advice and input from all kinds of self-interested sources, players are faced with as important and as life-altering a decision as any they’ll ever make deciding to stay or go. As the rules currently stand, making the wrong one means there’s no way back.
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If a player comes back because they aren’t sure about their draft status and he gets injured, it could cost them millions or their career as a whole. If a player declares and is not picked, he’s done or at least forced to put his education on hold, most likely to play overseas or to float between summer league, G-League, and the occasional 10 day contract.
The league would need to work out details like how many times players could declare, how things would work with agents and contracts, and whether or not players could come back if they went much later than expected.
Overall though — good idea. It would do much more good than harm.
Kerr/Popovich 2020.
(I would put Silver on the ticket but he’s done too well as Commissioner and his talent and vision would wasted in government.)