At long last, the 2017-2018 National Basketball Association season has ended. The Golden State Warriors are the NBA champs (again) after beating the Cleveland LeBrons (again). James Harden of the Houston Rockets won the MVP (overdue), while Philly’s Ben Simmons won the “I’m not quite a” Rookie of the Year award over a quite deserving REAL rookie from Utah named Donovan Mitchell.
Last week, the NBA held their annual player draft and, to no one’s surprise, the first round was dominated by the selection of a series of young men who attended (allegedly) their college/university for the mandated minimum of one season. These “one-and-done” players have been the source of many SwampSwami lamentations in this blog over the past year as I believe most of the young hoopsters selected are a big risk and could use a few more years to mature before going pro.
I came across a very interesting article in which one of the NBA’s greatest fifty players was asked his feelings about these young bucks entering the NBA at the tender age of 19.
David Robinson played for 14 seasons in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs. He won two NBA championships, a league MVP trophy, Rookie-of-the-Year in 1989 and played in ten NBA All-Star games during his time in the Association. For his NBA playing career, Robinson managed to earn $116 million in salaries, while his current worth is estimated to be a very healthy $200 million.
He didn’t enter the NBA until he was 24 years old.
The reason? David Robinson came out of high school and committed to attending the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. As his NCAA basketball eligibility ended, the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs (who drafted him in the first round) had to wait another two more years while “The Admiral” fulfilled a service commitment with the US Navy.
Robinson, who graduated college in four years with a major in mathematics, was able to work a deal with the Navy to serve only the first two years of his service commitment. As a result of his height (he had grown from 6’6″ to 7’1″ during his time at the Naval Academy), Lieutenant David Robinson was now too tall to serve his country in a traditional capacity aboard most naval vessels.
So what does David Robinson think about the chances of the ten “one-and-done” players selected in the first 14 picks of last week’s 2018 NBA draft?
“Scary, you wouldn’t have liked a one-and-done David Robinson,” Robinson says. “I was still growing. I gained 60 pounds my first two years in college. I was still a toothpick and I hadn’t even learned what my body could do. It’s nice letting a guy mature physically and emotionally because coming into the league, that’s the big jump. It’s the emotion, the intellect of the game and I needed that time.”
In 1989, David Robinson, at the age of 24, played his first game with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. He averaged over 24 points and 12 rebounds per game in his first season and was the unanimous pick for the NBA Rookie-of-the-Year. Thirteen years later, the Spurs’ legend retired from the game and still lives in the San Antonio area.
Robinson is speaking from personal experience when discussing the risks which NBA teams are taking by selecting such young talent early in the first round of the draft.
“I like the mature guys. I don’t understand the argument that a guy’s a little older … he’s two or three years older, or he’s a senior in college, so he’s maybe not as valuable. I don’t understand that thought process.”
Bravo! More young basketball players and NBA talent scouts should listen to this very wise NBA Hall-of-Famer.
Here’s to you, David Robinson!