Brickowski said:Nor would it be difficult for the NCAA to allow schools to pay stipends to players that approximate (and could exceed) what D league players are currently making.
It seems to me that players like Mudiay are the NCAA's problem, not the NBA's problem.
The problem right now is that there are two different kinds of players in the NCAA.
95+% of NCAA athletes aren't going to go pro. The current scholarship system works well for them, and changing the scholarship to a pay system would likely hurt a lot of them. Especially female athletes since they don't bring in much revenue. The NCAA could pay athletes a small stipend instead of a wage system, but the money would still be a pittance compared to what the NBA-bound players would make professionally.
A tiny number of male basketball and football players are being shafted by the current NCAA system. Even many of those athletes who will eventually go pro -such as WNBA players- are not going to earn enough to make it worth skipping a degree under the scholarship system.
crystalline said:If the D-league pulled all the top talent out of the NCAA, would fans watch the NBADL on TV? Or keep watching the NCAA? I'd think this uncertainty gives both NCAA and NBA a strong incentive to keep the status quo. Which is why foreign leagues are so disruptive.
It wouldn't be all the NCAA talent. It would be a few guys each year who would play one year in the D League instead of one year at Kentucky or Kansas.
Meanwhile if they ignore the issue, the next Lebron is probably going to sign to play a year in Spain or China instead of college. Pretending the problem doesn't exist is not a solution.