Re: NBA's Most Influential Players. Kevin Garnett started the high school to pros thing after 20 years or so. He really opened the door for guys like Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal, Lebron James, etc. And he also changed the game with his contract (forcing a lock out) and his versatility has opened the door for numerous players, as well.
Re: NBA's Most Influential Players. You could argue that each of those players who came out of high school had a negative effect, though. By making the jump, they made many individuals think they were capable of doing the same thing while, in reality, most werent. Many failed to succesfully make the jump from HS to the NBA and in the process lost their College eligibility. I think that this, although there were several cases who experienced tremenous success, did more harm than it did help the basketball world..
Re: NBA's Most Influential Players. I don't think ti was their influence though. Many, if not all NBA players going from High School to college are in financial trouble, and need the money. I'd do it too if I needed the money bad
Re: NBA's Most Influential Players. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (hoopskidd5 @ Mar 4 2006, 07:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>You could argue that each of those players who came out of high school had a negative effect, though. By making the jump, they made many individuals think they were capable of doing the same thing while, in reality, most werent. Many failed to succesfully make the jump from HS to the NBA and in the process lost their College eligibility. I think that this, although there were several cases who experienced tremenous success, did more harm than it did help the basketball world..</div>But he was influential to those guys who did it, they believed they could do it, and that's all that matters. Garnett changed the game, and that's what I thought this thread was about. I'm sorry for misreading it.
Re: NBA's Most Influential Players. Yeah, but if you have the oppurtunity to go to college for free, why wouldnt you take it and give yourself some options for your future? Most of those people did do it for financial reasons, but if they knew they werent good enough to make it they wouldnt have made the jump and would have tried to hone their skills in college before trying the NBA. I think these guys gave alot of people false hope and made it appear to be an "easy" way out of poor financial situations..<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mr Wolf @ Mar 4 2006, 08:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>But he was influential to those guys who did it, they believed they could do it, and that's all that matters. Garnett changed the game, and that's what I thought this thread was about. I'm sorry for misreading it.</div>Yeah, he definatly influenced those who made the jump succesfully after him, but for every guy who is succesfull, how many of them are failures who dont end up getting picked? The ratio is very high in terms of players who didnt succeed in comparison to those who were succesfull. Sure, we got some terrific young players who made the jump and are very prominant players in the league now, but alot of individuals were given false hope and in turn failed because they thought they were better than they really were and thought, hey, if he can do it, so can I...
