Bob Knight: NBA has 'raped' college basketball

[Jason Svoboda]

Over the past few days, there's been some questions about whether guys like Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker are ready for the NBA. Wiggins scored four points in a loss to Stanford, while Parker struggled to a 4 of 14 performance against Mercer.

While both players are going to be top-three NBA Draft picks and are certainly ready for the league, not everyone agrees.

Legendary head coach Bob Knight is one of them, and he says he wouldn't draft a 19 or 20-year old.

"If I were involved with the NBA I wouldn't want a 19-year-old or a 20-year-old kid, to bring into all the travel and all the problems that exist in the NBA," Knight said on Mike and Mike Tuesday morning. "I would want a much more mature kid. I would want a kid that maybe I've been watching on another team and now he's 21, 22 years old instead of 18 or 19, and I might trade for that kid."

Knight also went on to discuss the college-NBA system -- and he said that it's as if the NBA "raped" college basketball.

"On top of it all, the NBA does a tremendous, gigantic disservice to college basketball. It's as though they've raped college basketball in my opinion," Knight said. "Major League Baseball has the best idea of all. Three years before they'll take a kid out of college, then they have a minor league system that they put the kids in. I'm sure that if the NBA followed the same thing, there would be a lot of kids in a minor league system that still were not good enough to play in the major NBA."

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...0/bob-knight-nba-has-raped-college-basketball

 

[Sycamore624]

Barkley and the TNT gang was discussing this the other day at the half of one of the games. I'm not a fan personally of the "one & done" players or rule. I think it hurts the college and NBA game. Guys like Parker/Randall/Wiggins are extremely talented but of the three I think only possibly Randall of UK is NBA ready right now and that's just because of his body. If I were a fan of one these famous one & done schools I'd rather have a NBA talent or even a non NBA talent stay in the program for atleast 3 years because it's easier on recruiting and the team has a chance to establish a togetherness. It's clear the play of the NBA over the past 5-10 years has gotten to a all time low. Players are less talented and more worried about stats than actually playing ball.

 

[bent20]

Actually, I think the quality of the NBA has improved over the past 10 years. You have too many teams, so the talent pool is a bit diluted from where it was in say the 80s, but the good to great teams still put on the best basketball you'll see in the world. And the premier players today (James, Durant) are among the best you'll ever see. And you have teams like the Pacers, that when they're on, play some of the best defense you can find.

Basketball is in a tough spot because a lot of these kids could easily go to Europe and make more money. That farm system is already there if more were willing to leave the US. What Kentucky is doing by being a one-and-done school is hurting the college game.

 

[sycamore tuff]

So, should college baketball "lay back and enjoy it"?