Thursday, November 05, 2009

Latavious Williams: New Brandon Jennings

I was so inspired by the novelty of Latavious Williams -- the first prep hoops player to jump straight from high school to the D-League that I sent a note to Henry Abbott over at TrueHoop, who graciously posted my argument why this is A Really Big Deal.

It's a little like Brandon Jennings skipping college for Italy a year ago, but because the Jennings Plan doesn't scale, this actually has the potential to be bigger.

It's better for the player.
It's better for the NBA.
It's better for college basketball.

It remains to be seen whether other prep players follow Williams' path -- they should think seriously about it, especially if they can pool their interests and cut a group endorsement deal with a shoe company to subsidize the admittedly low D-League salaries.

But Williams -- and those who follow him -- get pro coaching from people whose incentive is to get them to the NBA... not college coaches whose incentive is to maintain their job security.

That's just a taste. Check out the whole thing here. Would love to get your reaction in the comments.

-- D.S.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It should be the NBA-Me-League as players, coaches, even trainers are trying to get to the Big Show ASAP. How is a kid supposed to develop when they have games every other day. And your taking minutes from a man who's barely making minimum wage and not happy about it. Just like Brandon Jennings in Europe or going into the Army the shock and awe of being in the adult world matures a kid in a hurry. It works, but like dodging bullets, there may be easier ways to grow up.