Durant gets it

By Michael Rushton

As the 76ers continue their quest towards lottery bliss, even though they are doing their best to screw that up, the possibility of selecting Ohio State’s Greg Oden continues to make fans salivate.

Many believe if the Sixers land the Ohio State big man, they become a playoff-bound squad next year. Many of those same fans scoff at the notion Philadelphia may entertain the idea of grabbing Longhorns freshman Kevin Durant instead.

I’m perfectly fine with Philadelphia passing on the versatile swingman because you know what, he may be available the following year.

Durant is part of this year’s freshman class restricted from entering the NBA draft. So instead of NBA millions, the likes Durant, Oden and Mike Conley all were “forced” to enroll in college.

It’s an outdated argument now whether the restriction is a good or bad thing. We’ll resurrect that discussion closer to the draft. Let me just say I’m for it and I’ll briefly tell you why.

The easy argument is that a fresh-out-of-high-school product’s body and mind just aren’t ready for the NBA. They are undersized, under worked and lack the necessary experience to handle the pro game. And that’s fine.

However, I think it goes deeper than that.

At 24-years-old and just 1 ½ years removed from college, I can tell you kids make mistakes. It’s a part of life, a part of maturity, a part of growing up. However, in a controlled environment such as college, the consequences of those mistakes are usually kept to a minimum. Usually.

However, give any freshman-aged person millions of dollars, the bad crowd that usually follows, and a wild, uncontrollable environment, and those mistakes can have disastrous consequences. Which is why a smile came to my face when I read Steve Wieberg’s article in last week’s USA Today.

In it, Durant admits that jumping right to the NBA might not have been the best move.

“I’d have struggled, man,” Durant says in the article. “I would have wanted to spend all my money on stupid stuff. I’d have wanted to buy everybody else everything. It would have been a disaster, I think.”

He continues, “Outside of basketball, I don’t know what I would have done. I think my mama would have had to quit her job just to look after me.”

And that’s just it. Many of us don’t know what we want to do at that age. We use college as a safety net to try, fail and succeed. Except we don’t have a high-priced contract and the weight of an NBA franchise on our shoulders.

Is a degree and a four-year college career in Durant’s future now. Probably not. In the end, college isn’t for everyone. But it’s a safe start. Who knows? Maybe Durant will play for Texas next year -- or three more years.

And if he falls into the Sixers’ lap in two or three drafts, they will get a wise, mature player to build around.

Give your take on the draft argument at rushpac@comcast.net or phanaticmag@comcast.net


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The Phanatic