Portland Trail Blazers rookie Anfernee Simons has recently given his two cents worth on the perpetually controversial topic of the NBA requiring aspiring draftees to spend at least one year in college before becoming eligible for the draft.
Simmons admitted that nowadays, people his age no longer hold a strong desire to get a college education, and would much rather go straight to the pros.
“A lot of kids don’t value going to college anymore because most of the kids that go there go to get to the NBA,” Simmons said, Evan Daniels of 247 Sports. “College is just a stepping-stone to get to the NBA and knowing that they can go overseas and make money still and then go to the NBA the next year, I think kids are more excited about that.”
Simmons makes a fair point here. In truth, most athletes go to college just to satisfy the NBA's rule, with not much thought on the type of education they will be getting. After all, what type of mindset would you expect from an athlete that fully understands that he's only going to be sticking around in school for a year? Can you really expect him to take his classes seriously?
Simmons, who himself decided to altogether skip his obligatory year in college, also points out that going overseas has also become a more financially viable options for aspiring NBA players. This further decreases the value of the one-and-done rule, which makes one think that surely, the NBA has got to do something to make this system more effective, right?
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