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Jermaine O'Neal thinks NBA age limit is racist

April 12, 2005 at 01:45 PM

How is that racism? Almost all college basketball players are black too. That makes no sense. Agree or disagree with an age limit in the NBA, the idea that it's racist is moronic.

For every Amare Stoudemire and LeBron James, there's 10 Leon Smith's.

Posted in Sports | 11 Comments | Add yours

Comments

1 actionBERG said...

I think he makes a valid point, in that there shouldn't be a law to prevent high schoolers from making the jump. If the owners are willing to draft someone from high school, why should anything stop them from doing that? If a kid needs to make money to help his family, then nothing should stop him from doing that.

Plus I am sure there are many college seniors who go pro that don't make it either.

Posted on April 12, 2005 at 02:49 PM

2 Brian said...

I think an age limit would be good for both the NBA and NCAA. Imagine TJ Ford, Carmello Anthony, Emeka Okafor, LeBron James if they were still playing college ball.

There are valid points on both side of the argument, but to even bring up race is just plain dumb.

Posted on April 12, 2005 at 03:31 PM

3 Matt said...

How do you claim an employer that employees ninety percent african americans is racist. Didn't Charles Barkley say (in jest) that David Stern was the best thing that every happened to black people? Yes there are valid points on both sides, yes a developmental league could help the players and no I do not fault them for wanting to make millions. Problem is the agents and "family" members suck all of their money away. But that is all besides the point. This is not an issue of race, just David Stern trying not to dilute the product. Besides Jermaine O'neil has better things to do, like prepare for his assault trial.

Posted on April 12, 2005 at 10:22 PM

4 moni said...

i go along wit anything my baby jermaine o'neal says cuz das my man he is so cute so whateva he says goes.

Posted on April 21, 2005 at 08:30 PM

5 Stephanie said...

AYY JERMAINE IS MA BABY DADDY AND WHATEVER MA BABY SAYZ IS ALWAYZ RIGHT SO ALL YOU HATERZ BACK OFF!!!! I LOVE YOU BABY!!!YOU SO SEXII!!

Posted on May 17, 2005 at 09:04 AM

6 Stephanie said...

I LOVE YOU JERMAINE!!!HES SO HOT AND IF THERE SHOULDN'T BE AN AGE LIMIT!!!

-*Stephanie*-

Posted on May 17, 2005 at 09:06 AM

7 Wyatt said...

I dont think there should be an age limit, but if there was, how would it be racist?

Posted on June 01, 2005 at 05:57 PM

8 Kevin said...

All of you surely can't be so dense to not understand how this policy could possibly be race-related. Why should we have an age-limit in the NBA when there aren't any in baseball, hockey, tennis, golf, racing, etc.? You really don't think that the fact that the teenagers who want to skip college for the NBA tend to be disproportionately black and from inner-city backgrounds is possibly relevant here? The word "racist" gets misused, as this clearly isn't an issue of the NBA hating black people, but I find it hard to believe that race and class are not an issue here.

Posted on June 22, 2005 at 11:45 AM

9 Brian said...

Kevin that argument makes no sense, the kids going to college and playing for 2, 3, or 4 years are also almost all black. The race ratio on kids going to college and those skipping it are essentially the same. It's purely a money issue, zero race involved at all (in my opinion of course.)

NBA owners would rather the a prospect head to college for a year or two and improve his game as well as mature physically and emotionally, all at no cost to them. If they draft a kid out of high school, 99% of them (all except Lebron and Kobe to my recollection) have to ride pine for two or three years while cashing a massive paycheck. Yeah a lot of today's best players skipped college, but they also had virtually no impact during their first few years in the league.

How much money did the Portland Trail Blazers pay Jermaine O'Neal to play 10 minutes per game and score 3 points his first four years? If he had gone to school for just a year or two he would've gotten more instruction and a lot more playing time, again for no cost to any owner. No matter what the issue, it's always about the money.

Posted on June 22, 2005 at 12:00 PM

10 Noah said...

If 18 year old can fight in wars, why can they not play basketball in the NBA? ANd the reason Jermaine says its racist is because ONLY Black players have made the jump to the NBa, with the exception of Robert Swift. Thats why the issue of rascism was brought into attention.

Posted on December 05, 2005 at 08:42 AM

11 gabe said...

i think this will help the nba because if a young athlete such as oj mayo comes in i think it will draw more attention to the nba.i do think its racsit becasue they let robert swift in(which i meet at the round ball clasic)why not oj mayo.it will bring more fans and better listing to the nba.

Posted on February 07, 2006 at 12:19 PM