Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ben Simmons will have a new documentary that will air on Friday at 9 p.m. on Showtime. The feature is titled “One and Done” which is what players like him, who spent only one year in college before joining the NBA draft, have done in the past in order to comply with the NBA's condition.
The documentary will follow his early life in Australia and his days at LSU, the school he played for last year. But instead of having high praises for the NCAA, he took it as an opportunity to blast them and reveal the exploits done to athletes like him in college. Per Myron Medcalf of ESPN:
“The NCAA is really f—ed up. Everybody's making money except the players. We're the ones waking up early as hell to be the best teams and do everything they want us to do and then the players get nothing. They say education, but if I'm there for a year, I can't get much education.”
“The NCAA is messed up. I don't have a voice. … I don't get paid to do it. Don't say I'm an amateur and make me take pictures and sign stuff and go make hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars off one person. … I'm going off on the NCAA. Just wait, just wait. I can be a voice for everybody in college. I'm here because I have to be here [at LSU]. … I can't get a degree in two semesters, so it's kind of pointless. I feel like I'm wasting time.”
Simmons' statements on the documentary already has the makings of being a much-talked about issue for months, maybe years to come. He may have blasted the NCAA, but they are not the only ones who'll be affected by it as it will also reflect on the NBA's decision not to make players straight from high school eligible to be drafted and make them go to college for a year, even if it means they don't have to attend their classes. This is a reality the league is already well aware of.
The NBA, together with team owners and the NBPA are currently finalizing the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, and one of the details that was discussed more than others was about the “One and Done” terms. For now, it will stay the same but it will not be surprising if they can come up with new provisions on it especially after Simmons' claims.
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