OMAHA, Neb. (AP)—Kareem Abdul-Jabbar says the NBA should raise its minimum agefor entry into the league to 21.
The NBA’s career scoring leader and center on the Los Angeles Lakers’ 1980s“Showtime” teams said Wednesday there’s a disturbing sense ofentitlementamong many of today’s young pros.
“They get precocious kids from high school who think they’re rock stars—‘Where’s my $30 million?’ ” said Abdul-Jabbar, who was in Omaha to speakat theB’nai B’rith sports banquet.. “The attitudes have changed, and the gamehassuffered because of that, and it has certainly hurt the college game.”
The 63-year-old Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson led the Lakers to five NBAtitles in the 1980s. Before Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989, he set the NBArecordfor career points (38,387), MVP selections (six) and All-Star selections(19).
He now is a special assistant to the Lakers and a best-selling author.
Abdul-Jabbar met students Wednesday at Boys Town, the nationally acclaimedhome for troubled youth. He told them about his time at UCLA, where heplayed onthree national championship teams for John Wooden and graduated in fouryearswith degrees in English and history.
“Coach John Wooden encouraged me to be more than just a jock,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “He said if I let my intellectual life suffer becauseI wasso into being an athlete that I would be less than I could be. I wouldtell allstudents to pursue your dreams but don’t let your education suffer.”
The NBA in 2005 changed its entry age to 19. Players who previously mighthave jumped from high school to the NBA now end up playing one year ofcollegeball before declaring for the draft.
Those players are still too young, Abdul-Jabbar said, and many deprivethemselves of the emotional and physical maturity necessary to meet on-andoff-the-court challenges.
“When I played, the players had to go to college and earn their way ontothe court, meaning that there were upperclassmen ahead of them,” hesaid.“Players who had to go through that and had to go to class, when theygot to beprofessional athletes, they were a lot better qualified.”
Abdul-Jabbar said if college weren’t the right place for a player, theplayer should, as an alternative, be required to play in a minor leagueordevelopmental league.
Kevin Garnett, KobeBryant and LeBronJames became stars right out of highschool. The day after James all but disappeared in Cleveland’s playoffloss toBoston, Abdul-Jabbar said even “King James” would have benefited fromcollege.
“He would have come into the professional ranks very polished, given hisinnate gifts,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “Having to go through a college systemwouldhave made him a total gem as soon as he stepped out of the collegeranks.”
Abdul-Jabbar commented on other topics:
— He said his role as co-pilot “Roger Murdock” in the 1980 comedy movie“Airplane” changed his life.
“I think everybody in the airline industry is required to watch it,” hesaid. “When I get on planes, every so often the stewardess or the pilotwillcome out and ask me, ‘Do you want to fly the plane?’ “
During a flight in Europe, a pilot escorted him from his seat to the cockpitfor takeoff.
“I get a good laugh from it,” he said. “It’s been over 25 years since Imade that movie and people still watch it all the time. I guess it’s aclassic.”
— He said he has known about Boys Town and its founder, the Rev. EdwardFlanagan, since he attended Catholic school in an Irish neighborhood inNew YorkCity. “The Irish were very proud of him and what he had achieved. It’sreallyneat for me to come out here and see it in reality and seeing they’redoing suchfine work. That is so necessary. People have to care about our youth.They areour most precious resources. If we don’t care, what’s going to happen.”
— He said his greatest athletic achievement was playing on the Lakers teamthat beat Boston for the NBA title in 1985.
“But seeing my kids graduate from college and knowing they have a firmbasis in life, that is a lot more important to me, personally,” he said.
— He said 6-11 center Nate Thurmond, who played for Golden State, Chicagoand Cleveland, was his toughest matchup.
“A lot of guys beat on me and said they played good defense. Nate actuallyused skill and knowledge of the game to play against me and make myeveningsmore difficult when I had to play him,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “He waseverythinga professional center should be.”
— He said the “Showtime” Lakers would fare well in the current NBA.
“We had guys on the bench who were Hall-of-Famers,” he said. “That doesn’t happen now because there is such a dispersal of talent. We woulddo verywell in this present climate.”
Comments