NBA all-time great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been keeping tabs on the NBA's evolution both on and off the court. More often than not, Kareem shied away from voicing his opinions on various matters involving the league he once dominated. And one thing that has always bothered the Hall of Famer is the trend of signing prospects straight out of high school.
For Abdul-Jabbar, college basketball has been an integral part of the process, and NBA teams should never skip it just because of the hype that surrounds only a few high schoolers.
"In the old days, college was a great place for players to mature and learn the game. Now, with an entry age of 19, we see too many pampered, immature, and uncoachable players coming into the NBA," the Los Angeles Lakers legend wrote in a special piece for ESPN in 2011.
It's hurting the game
Over the last two decades, there has been a significant increase in high school players jumping straight into the pros. But barring LeBron James, most of them didn't reach the heights of the NBA. Abdul-Jabbar reckoned it's only hurting the game on both ends.
"The league has taken in a huge influx of unproven talent by drafting and signing very young players… I believe this has hurt both the pro game and the college game.
The colleges are losing their best players to the pros, and the NBA has to keep these players on the bench while they (hopefully) develop the basketball IQ and maturity to play at the NBA level. However, that development doesn't always happen; there are way too many washouts," he pointed out.
Major adjustments should be done
In all fairness to the NBA, they made a smart move in addressing the issue by forming the National Basketball Development League in 2001, which later became NBA D League and now NBA G League.
It's a good thing. But for Abdul-Jabbar, the league should also explore other ways to prompt high school players to play college basketball and forget about the glare of the NBA.
"I think the NBA needs to work out a way to make better use of its Development League or find a way to let players stay in college for a longer period of time. One-and-done is not working out to anyone's satisfaction. By losing its stars to the NBA, the college game is becoming marginalized. Which, ironically, has hurt the pro game. I feel players who have stayed in college are mature enough and have an in-depth understanding of the game that makes them better suited to make immediate contributions to a pro team. So in all of this, I'm rooting for the college game because it is the wellspring of professional basketball success," he concluded.