Skool is a waste of time...and money

     How the HELL does a kid lose an education by skipping college for the NBA??

     Granted, he misses 4 years of free education. It doesn't matter. If you really think about it, a kid is a FOOL if he turns down the NBA for college.

      Let's say one of my students decides to go pro. He rides bench for 3 years before he is released. He has blown his chance at free college...and collected a million dollars a year. He can BUY a friggin' college.

     What if LeBron said "I don't want to set a bad example for kids", and turned down the NBA to go to Duke or UNLV? In his first game as a Runnin' Rebel, LeBron tears his ACL. He never plays again. He is miserable, and flunks out of college the next year. No one from the NBA ever calls him. He fades into obscurity.

     LeBron immediately becomes argument #1 in the Turn Pro discussion. ESPN finds him in 2010, cleaning sewers in Akron. LeBron gives an interview telling how he turned down $90 million dollars from Nike to go study Phlebotomy for 2 semesters at Georgia Tech. He discusses the healthy salary of Carmello Anthony("I was better than effing Darko, man..."), and ends the interview by asking the reporter if he can borrow lunch money.

     Sticking with LeBron, let's draw up another scenario. While leaving an NBA game in Orlando, LeBron is attacked in the parking lot by a Burmese Python. Lebron has his legs mangled by the snake's startling crushing power. His career ends instantly.

     LeBron has made a fortune in the NBA. He may have insurance. He can sue somebody over allowing the python to get into the player parking lot. He may even stand to collect a buyout of his contract. He is then free to go to 4 colleges at once, if he so chooses. He can afford it.

     Trust me...LeBron would have been 5 minutes into is first Economics class when he'd have that moment of clarity alcoholics get. Instead, he is the topic of the economics class. He did the right thing. He's got Long Green. He knows Miles Thirst. He has a Sprite machine in his house, for God's sake.

     What about less heralded early entrants to the NBA, like Boston Celtics big man/boy Kendrick Perkins?  He has failed to impress thus far. Let's say he is out of the league by2008. Had he gone to college and developed his game, he may have commanded a $50 million shoe deal and a much more lucrative NBA contract when he graduated. Coming out early may, over the length of his first contract, cost KP millions of dollars.

     Nevertheless, it's hard to feel sorry for Mr. Perkins. Had he flopped as a pro, he still would have managed to amass a small fortune during his brief stay in the NBA. I will not say "poor Kendrick" about a guy who has made 3 lifetime teacher salaries.

    I'm a teacher, urging kids to drop out of school. How awful is that? Show 'em my motto...