Several years ago, I railed against the NBA's sudden explosion of drafting high school kids, and was met with vocal opposition. My argument, then, just as it is now, was based on two core tenets:
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NBA scouts were drafting on hype, not actual ability.
Players need some experience in a top-down, coaching environment against solid competition.
At that time, my number one example was Darius Miles, who had just been drafted and was going to be the next superstar phenom. I argued then that even though Miles had tons of ability, I would prefer that he play at least a year in college or even the NBDL to see how he actually plays against men his own size.
I'll revisit a bit of that argument and then explain why this is relevant today.
When you are a teenager, you develop the body of an adult, and you think you are an adult - but you aren't. As an example outside of basketball (and outside pure physical ability), let's look at adults who return to college later in life. In every single study, older students (even students just in their late 20s), do significantly better than younger students. Sure, there are students of college age who excel, but while the ratio for college students who are star pupils might be 10% or less, the ratio of older student who excel is probably the reverse of that, as in 90%.
Why the difference?
It's because, despite youthful energy and exuberance, adults develop the ability to learn and combine it with an actual, experienced understanding of how hard one must work to succeed. Adult students have experience forged in life, and life is a brutal teacher.
To be blunt, kids are naive. Adults aren't.
Now, back to the pro basketball world. Consider that any player with even just a year of experience in college has had to endure a year of balancing classes, the media, harsh coaching criticisms from someone who controls your playing time and hours of workouts and practices.
And then, there's the games, for top level schools, which are on national television and against top level talent. A 6'9″ player at a Division I school will be expected to not only do all of the previously mentioned work, but will have to face other players who have the same work ethic, same size and same coaching many times.
Now, let's consider a player who has done that for three or four years of college. Of course, the average player is going to be significantly more focused, more experienced, more crafty, stronger and more patient.
But college isn't even the best option in all cases. Taking the four year college player against a player with one year of NBDL (or overseas) experience. A pro player must now contend with bills, agents, playing time, personality conflicts and bad press. Add to that, pro players don't have to worry about class time, so they should be working out and practicing as a full time job. Day in, day out, while the college player is in class or hanging out on campus, the pro player should have already been in the gym for hours, working out, studying, and getting better.
It's no different than any other profession in that regard. A carpenter with twenty years of experience is better than a high school grad with a few shop classes under his belt and knack for woodwork. A lawyer with five years of experience is, on average, better at his job than a lawyer just out of college. Sure, there are exceptions, but in reality they are extremely rare. It takes time, experience and competition to become a master of a skill.
So what does that have to do with today?
Last night I witnessed Lebron James sulking around the court as his Cavs were soundly beaten by the Celtics. To be clear, James is injured, but his injury wasn't enough to stop his 38 point outburst only a few nights before. Even though star players in years past have had off nights, there's a new look to Lebron James that is far more significant than just another loss.
It's a night where James gave up, got outplayed and out-manned, something that has starting happening with alarming frequency.
The display by Lebron is what you might expect from a player who got everything too easily, who hasn't had to battle for his starting role or even having to prove himself at all. Lebron was great in the regular season, but the season isn't when NBA players come to play. They get serious in the playoffs.
Sure, you might say that Lebron just had an off night. But the look on Lebron's face, in his demeanor, isn't one of someone struggling. It's the look of a kid who just realized he's not invincible, and he can be beaten. Badly.
Lebron is obviously injured. Yet, he vocally campaigned to guard Rajan Rondo, the Celtics emerging star point guard. Rondo was barely even slowed. If Lebron really was so injured, he shouldn't be putting himself on the Celtics hottest player - that's a liability. Lebron's bravado is quickly giving way to another average playoff run, and unfortunately, Lebron's biggest lesson: potential is only a temporary quality. Eventually, potential dissipates.
Darren Beadman is arguably Australia's most successful jockey, but he is also a jockey with the unusual career twist of being an ordained minister.
Darren Beadman's Racing Career: Take One
Beadman's riding career had a flying start when he won the apprentice jockeys' title in his first 겜블시티 season, 1982/83. He won the title again in 1984/85, the same season he had his first Group 1 win on Inspired in the Golden Slipper, a race he won again in 1997 on Guineas. In 1990, Beadman won the Melbourne Cup on Kingston Rule in only his third start in the race.
In 1996, Beadman completed the double of winning the Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup - two of the most prestigious races on the Australian racing calendar. Also in 1996, he took the record of 186 winners Australia-wide and won the Sydney Jockeys' Premiership.
Beadman won the 1996 Melbourne Cup on a horse called Saintly - quite an appropriate name when you consider his next career move.
Beadman Joins the Ministry and Takes the Road Less Travelled
Beadman had been given a nine month disqualification from racing in Hong Kong. On his return to Sydney, Beadman used the nine months to consider his future, and he decided to make a full-time commitment to his faith and the Hillsong Church. The birth of his daughter who is profoundly deaf may also have affected his decision.
Beadman stunned the racing world in 1997 by announcing that he was retiring from racing to become a full-time member of the ministry at the Christian Life Centre at Waterloo, a Pentecostal Christian Church better known as the infamous Hillsong Church.
Beadman Returns to the Race Track and Further Success
The lure of the race track was too strong though, and in 2000 Beadman returned to the track and continued his dazzling racing career. He won further Sydney Jockey Premierships in 2002/03 and 2003/04, and recorded 143 wins in 2004/05 and 152 wins in the 2005/06 season.
These days, Beadman is again based in Hong Kong but still races frequently in Australia. His son Mitchell Beadman is also a jockey. In March, Darren returned to ride Bart Cumming's filly Occurrence in the Surround Stakes - replacing Mitchell.
In April Beadman was compared to the famous jockey George Moore, when he rode Tuesday's Joy at Rosehill's BMV, bringing a tally of three Group One wins from three rides on the mare.
Unfortunately Beadman had a bad fall in a Hong Kong race in October, which meant that he missed the 2008 Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup. He cracked his coccyx (tail bone) and was out of racing for some time while it healed.
Darren Beadman has been inducted into the Australian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and is considered one of Australia's greatest ever jockeys - even though he is currently based overseas. It would seem that although he has changed course over his life, he has discovered his true calling: not as a minister but as a jockey who inspires many others.