What happened and what’s next
T.J. Holmes Opens Up On Ending His Relationship With BET And Future Career Plans
My hoop dreams
As soon as the final buzzer sounded at Monday night’s NCAA championship game, a slew of underclassmen started declaring for the NBA draft. Sophomore Cody Zeller of Indiana and his teammate, junior Victor Oladipo, are gone. Freshman Ben McLemore of Kansas, sophomore Michael Carter-Williams of Syracuse, junior Phil Pressey of Missouri are leaving. Louisville junior guard Russ Smith is headed to the NBA, if you believe his dad. Many expect Michigan sophomore guard Trey Burke to declare. And, freshman Ricky Ledo of Providence has declared for the NBA draft even though he never played a game in college. He was academically ineligible.
Most of these guys are expected to be lottery picks and make big money in their first NBA contacts. While it may make sense for a few elite players to pursue the NBA, their high-profile stories can take away from the idea that a college education is important, even for athletes. (The bench player who graduates with a degree in biochemistry and goes on to work as a researcher won’t get as much press coverage.)
So, for your high school-aged son, nephew or neighbor who may have NBA dreams, give them this reality: there are about 550,000 boys playing high school basketball in this country. There are about 5,200 young men playing major college basketball. There are about 450 players in the NBA. Do the math. If they can’t handle that equation, they clearly need to stay in school.
Please, don’t wait
I got word at 2:30 a.m. that a family member had passed away. We were the same age. This is someone I had spent a lot of time with when we were growing up, but I hadn’t talked to him in years. As is often the case, we had fallen out of touch as our lives and careers took us away from home and in different directions.
A death in the family is always hard. But it’s harder when you’re left with a feeling that you didn’t do or say what you could have when you had the chance. Sometimes, it’s as simple as calling to say, “how are you doing?” I didn’t, and now, I’ll never get the chance.
I beg you: don’t wait. Don’t wait to call to check on a friend. Don’t wait to tell someone how you feel about them. Don’t wait to call a family member you haven’t talked to in a while. Don’t wait to tell someone ‘thank you.’ Don’t wait to forgive. Don’t wait to say you’re sorry.
Don’t wait. You may never get the chance.