The LA Clippers beat the San Antonio Spurs last night 90-85, answering the question, what would happen if a bunch of really good college kids played against an NBA team.
Well, actually not answering that question at all.
The Clippers are, in fact, still an NBA team. What I found most interesting about the Clippers (sans Chris Kamen and with Baron Davis coming off the bench after missing 14 games due to injury) is the age of their starting line-up.
Here they are:
PF Blake Griffin - Rookie, 21
SF Al-Farouq Aminu - Rookie, 20
PG Eric Bledsoe - Rookie, 20
SG Eric Gordon - 3rd year, 21
C DeAndre Jordan - 3rd year, 22
This group of Clippers all played significant minutes and beat the best team in the NBA last night. The five players above all left college early, are making a lot of money, and making significant contributions to their employer, when they could still be in college or having just finished.
Hopefully these players continue to pursue college degrees. Education is important for everybody, even talented and rich athletes. But when it comes to the NBA, it's so much for "stay in school".
I don't know about you but I was able to complete high school in nine weeks. Following my graduation from Princeton at age 10 I was suddenly unable to maintain an expedited academic schedule and enjoyed a leasurly four years in medical school prior to becoming the youngest licensed doctor in the United States shortly after my fourteenth birthday. I plan on being the Cheif of Surgery at Eastman Medical Center well before my 22nd birthday. An age at which you have declared one to be still of college age.
ReplyDelete-D. Howser, MD