When high school phenomenon Thon Maker announced last week that he would enter the 2016 NBA Draft, IU basketball fans were forced to accept the reality of what they have feared all along.
Maker, a seven-foot tall player with the agility of a point guard, couldn’t forego a seven-figure salary and more in sponsorship deals to attend a school like IU to work towards a degree that he will likely never need.
Professional sports are big business and there is a lot of money to be had by team owners and players alike.
The inherent issue in professional sports today lies in the fact players aren’t treated as value-adding employees but rather as commodities.
Forget about athletes, most 19 year-olds don’t know the first thing about how to successfully lead a financially independent life.
To young adults, there’s not much that is more appealing than the prospect of earning more than $25 million throughout the life of a rookie NBA contract, much like rookie Karl-Anthony Towns is set to do.
Aimed to cash in on athletes in their physical primes, ballooning sports salaries encourage vulnerable youth to concede a valuable education in order to provide financial support to themselves, family and friends.
Team owners and league officials should realize earning the services of prized athletes is a two-way street, and more should be done to educate them on life skills such as money management and living independently.
Leagues are slowly catching on and implementing short rookie transition retreats.
But wide-reaching results have yet to appear.
Former Atlanta Hawks general manager Danny Ferry’s claim that Miami’s Luol Deng has “a little African in him” suggests some in the industry view players as little more than prized racehorses.
If those discriminatory comments seem like an aberration, consider the questions NFL scouts ask draft prospects.
The general manager of one unnamed franchise was concerned retired running back Rashard Mendenhall read too many books. “A guy with an expanded worldview, now that’s fearful,” Mendenhall said ironically of the industry’s view toward intellectually curious players.
It’s almost as if team owners want players to stay as dumb as possible so teams can continue milking their athletic abilities until they have nothing to offer.
This would leave players to be financially self-sufficient with nothing but the vestigial remains of their career earnings and a high school education.
The opportunities professional sports provide underprivileged youth, and youth in general, allow many to live a life that would be otherwise unfathomable, but problems arise when players are treated like cattle.
Educational forums offered by professional leagues are a good starting point, but more comprehensive measures must be taken, like pairing players with financial advisers.
As athletes work hard to fill arenas, their employers have a clear duty to provide for their employees.
Owners, if you’re asking athletes to sell tickets, make sure they can balance a checkbook first.
dkilcull@indiana.edu
@daniel_kilc
