Scottie Pippin Says College Basketball Sensation Zion Williamson should "Shut It Down".
Earlier this week, Hall of Famer Scottie Pippin dished out another great assist and decided to do what more adults in sports should be doing. He actually thought about what was best for an 18 year old athlete instead of the long line of adults and organizations making millions off of that "student" athlete.
While appearing on ESPN's The Jump, Pippin said the following:
"I think he's done enough for college basketball, that it's more about him personally now, I think for him as a young player (pauses), I would shut it down. I would stop playing, because I feel that he could risk a major injury that could really hurt his career."
The "he" in this case is basketball phenom Zion Williamson.
Duke better keep Zion away from any Econ classes. Otherwise, he might figure out that $44 million is worth more than one semester in college.
Zion is currently playing for Duke under coach Mike Krzyzewski who makes $9.7 million dollars per year. Williamson is paid one semester of college education. Although he could technically stay for more of that of-so-valuable education, he will most likely be done with Duke and his classes right after the conclusion of the NCAA tournament in March.
Many believe Williamson will be the first pick in the 2019 NBA draft. At the very worst, he could possibly get picked third. And that is if he never played another minute of college basketball.
In the NBA, rookies are slotted into salaries according to their draft position.
The first pick will earn $44,203,144 over four years (with $19,997,120 guaranteed even if he happened to be a complete bust).
The second pick will earn $39,549,660 over four years (with $17,874,000 guaranteed even if he happened to be a complete bust).
The third pick will earn $35,516,188 over four years (with $16,051080 guaranteed even if he happened to be a complete bust).
So if he never suits up again for the $9.7 million dollar man Coach K again, he will definitely make between $16 million and $44 million. And that is only taking into account his NBA salary. The second he is eligible, Williamson will sign a multi-million dollar shoe contract.
Cha ching!
On the other hand, if Williamson continues to play and suffers a back or knee injury, all of that guaranteed money could be gone. Any adult who actually cares about this kid would be insane to advise him to play one more second of basketball for the cartel known as the NCAA.
I honestly cannot believe anyone is shocked by what Pippin said. The shock should be that anyone would risk generational wealth in exchange for the privilege of making coaches and the NCAA billions of dollars.
If your child were in college and was offered $16 million dollars to work his/her dream job, what would you do? Would you honestly say, "I know your childhood dream was to be a computer programmer (or actor, musician, artist, game developer, chef, etc.) and they are offering you a guarantee $16 million to do it... but you should say 'no'. You should stay in school." ?
Tough to argue after that advice.
Do you know what I would say? I would grab my kid by the shoulders and tell him/her that I love them very much. Then I would tell then that they are flat out insane if they turn down the opportunity of 1000 lifetimes. Next I would tell them I expect them to finish college in the off-season. After all, $16 million is a lot of power. With great power comes great responsibility. I would want that power in the hands of an educated individual.
Because the cartel does not want to lose its golden geese, one of the rules states that these kids cannot consult lawyers to help advise them. Those lawyers would be "agents" and the NCAA would hate to see anyone sleazy near their prized student athletes... aside from themselves of course. I hope more respected athletes continue to think of what is best for these kids and make public statements in these players' best interest.
Sadly, they may be the only adults who will.
*For the record, I realize these athletes are technically adults. But think back to when you were 17 or 18 years old. How many excellent life decisions did you make? Were any of them $16 - $44 million decisions? I don't know about you, but it is a miracle I made it to 25.
It is a real weird situation that should have never happened. Last year when he was in High School I was saying he was actually NBA ready.
https://steemit.com/basketball/@brianphobos/is-high-schooler-zion-williamson-nba-ready
He continued to prove that over and over again in the last year. There was no reason that the rule not allowing high schoolers to go straight to the NBA was ever put into place.
It is ridiculous that the NCAA system exist the way that it does now and it would take a very big move by anyone to actually end make a statement to the NCAA. LaVar Ball did by having the JBA and that was a big move and there have been a few players that went and played in Europe and in China right out of high school. He could have went there and played for millions right off the bat.
I just think athletes grow up with the dream of playing in the NCAA tournament and it clouds their judgment.
For starters it was a little bit more of a long term call because him and his parents probably figured that he had a better chance at getting drafted higher if he went to Duke instead of going to China and playing. He is front and center in the NCAA and as long as he doesn't get hurt the endorsements and all that will make up for playing in the NCAA system.
Also another thing to consider is that he probably got $250,000 or so agreeing to play for Duke under the table and so he would be unlikely to just say. "Ok, I'm done" and piss off whoever paid him and the entire Duke fan base.
I think it would be funny if him and RJ Barrett and Cam Redish decided to make a stand and not play out the rest of the season as a statement to the NCAA system.
Excellent comments. One thing that I find interesting is Coach K's relationship to Bobby Knight. Here is what I mean. For years Duke was not getting the One and Done players. Now they are. Also I find it hard to believe that all of these phenoms are all smart enough to get into Duke, Notice that Knight has distanced himself from Duke? Knight hates cheaters.
I was never really a fan of Bobby Knight despite growing up in Indiana. But yeah, it is hard to say how many athletes are allowed into schools that they wouldn't otherwise be able to get into. I just think the whole NCAA system is an issue at this point and people have been talking about it for decades. I mean we all remember the movie Blue Chips which exposed some of the stuff going on. It seems like nothing really changes.
Good point.
I would love it if all the kids playing in the championship game who were lottery picks would go to the NCAA about 2 hours before tipoff and said You know that $1 billion you are getting for this game? We aren't playing if you don't give us a cut."
Yeah, it would be the best thing for the restructuring of the NCAA. The thing is it feels too risky for the majority of the players and then there are a lot of fans who would take it the wrong way and say the kids are greedy...etc or a disgrace...etc.
Well to me the best decision for this kid to take is to follow Scottie Pippin advice and stop playing in other to avoid injury and so that he can be rest assured of the $16 million. To me it is all about the money
I love basketball but i did not know how to play basketball
You raise a lot of really good points here. It'd be foolish to turn down that kind of money, even if he goes bust. I'd just tell him to invest and save as much as possible so that he's got a safety net.
My thoughts are also same as you
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This kid needs to play safe. Yes, he is athletic, but the injury is easy to come. He needs to follow Scottie's advice. But I'm looking forward to this kid.
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