By Contributor
William Fife, Florida Coastal School of Law, JD Candidate (May 2013), and
research associate at the Public Interest Research Bureau, Jacksonville,
Florida.
.
Nerlens Noel, 6’10” African-American
shot-blocking star for the University of Kentucky college basketball team, was
widely considered to be the 1st pick of the NBA draft before he ever
played his first game as a freshman this year.
This past season, he tore his ACL, and is now out for the year. Considering the advancements in medicine and
surgery, chances are he will get close to a full-recovery. But what if he does not make a full
recovery? What about his financial
future then? Basketball players are
forced to play in the NCAA before being eligible for the NBA (if they want to
stay in the US and not play professionally overseas). Other professional sports such as tennis,
golf and hockey only have minimum age requirements—there is no “one-year
minimum” requirement like there is for the NBA.
A quick look at the NBA shows the top players went straight to the pros
before college; LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, etc. However,
basketball is certainly no more physical than hockey, and arguably less
so.
This
begs the question: why is there a requirement for basketball players to play
one year in college before turning professional, whereas those pursuing dreams
of professional golf, hockey, and tennis do not? The difference appears to be one of race and
money. The NBA is nearly 80% African-American,
and one can count virtually on one hand the amount of professional black athletes
in hockey, tennis, and golf combined. Basketball is also big business; the NCAA has
over $10 billion in TV contracts alone; that does not even factor ticket and
apparel sales into the analysis. Why are
these black athletes denied pursuing their American Dream, while white athletes
are allowed to pursue riches in other sports?
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