Kobe Bryant: College hoops 'really isn't teaching players anything'

[john01992]

1) I did, when you asked me the first time.
2) My having attended college is immaterial. I'm not going to defend it just because I did it. That would be an asshat move that you would do. I'm secure enough with my place in life that I don't need to try and rationalize everything I've done. I got to where I am based on plenty of hard work mixed in with a little bit of luck. At no point has my degree had any factor on my employment.

So yeah, you're wrong.

well I think your thoughts are short sighted. The NYT recently did an article that stated that even a cashier in fast food will see the benefit of a college education. Even if your major has nothing to do with your current job you still gain valuable life skills that will help you in whatever field you wish to enter

 

[john01992]

College is a good thing for most, however to dog someone for not attending is a bit short sighted. Some of the dumb asses who did not graduate are Bill Lear(8th grade), Arthur Jones(9th grade) Soichiro Honda(8th grade), Steve Jobs(Reed College, less than 1 semester), Bill Gates(Harvard-1 semester), Tom Monaghan ( 12th grade), Ted Turner(Kicked out of Brown senior yr) I know lots of folks who have zero college who are very successful and very bright

i am not dogging him for not going to college. I was dogging him for bashing college as useless.

 

[TrollyMcTroller]

well I think your thoughts are short sighted. The NYT recently did an article that stated that even a cashier in fast food will see the benefit of a college education. Even if your major has nothing to do with your current job you still gain valuable life skills that will help you in whatever field you wish to enter

Oooh... "Valuable life skills." You know where I picked up most of my valuable life skills? Life. Out there in the real world. I certainly didn't learn very many sitting in a classroom.

But by all means, share with us johnny. Tell us about the wonderful life skills you've picked up since starting off in college. Tell us what you've learned there, that we couldn't have gotten anywhere else. I eagerly await your reply.

 

[john01992]

Oooh... "Valuable life skills." You know where I picked up most of my valuable life skills? Life. Out there in the real world. I certainly didn't learn very many sitting in a classroom.

But by all means, share with us johnny. Tell us about the wonderful life skills you've picked up since starting off in college. Tell us what you've learned there, that we couldn't have gotten anywhere else. I eagerly await your reply.

i feel like you have a massive case of butthurt here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/e...rees-value-during-economic-downturn.html?_r=0

College Graduates' Pay Is Slipping, but Still Outpaces Others - NYTimes.com

 

[TrollyMcTroller]

i feel like you have a massive case of butthurt here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/e...rees-value-during-economic-downturn.html?_r=0

College Graduates' Pay Is Slipping, but Still Outpaces Others - NYTimes.com

So... I'm still fuzzy on the life lessons. I did a quick skim of the 2nd article (already read the 1st one) and nary a mention of any "Valuable life skills"

And while those studies are great, they aren't actually doing a direct comparison within the same fields of people with degrees vs people without. Just lumping them all together doesn't tell you anything useful in the context of this discussion.


So about those life skills you mentioned....

 

[gpm1976]

i feel like you have a massive case of butthurt here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/e...rees-value-during-economic-downturn.html?_r=0

College Graduates' Pay Is Slipping, but Still Outpaces Others - NYTimes.com

Everyone knows that nytimes has a liberal bias. I wouldn't put any stock into a survey that they produce. Ask the idiots who occupied wall street how well their 150k education is serving them. Any of them find a job yet? Bet not, but the plumber living next door to me seems to be happy to make $75/hr.

 

[Jims_Doors]

Easy for Kobe to say when he rode the pine his 1st season.... learning from Vets, like Shaq, van Exel, Eddie Jones, Glen Rice etc....

James and KG didn't have that luxury. They, like other young college stars coming out after their freshman year get thrown into starting roles with garbage teams with barely any Vet leadership.

 

[Brahmsian]

yes, and he only had to assemble an all-star team to get it done.

If he'd done that while staying with the team in his native state rather than deliberately deceiving it's fans about
his intentions I would have more respect for him.

OFF court he's an egomaniacal piece of bleep!

 

[jonvi]

Though I don't have a college education, I'm not going to suggest that college is a waste of time. I'm sure it depends on the individual. College was never an option for me....not because of anything other than I hate sitting in a class not making money.

And I think the statistics show on average a person with a college degree earns more than the high school grad. Though that stat may get some challenges. Our economy today is not supporting the number of grads. I guess more studies will tell.

When I first posted the article, I was a little miffed at Bryant, but the more I've thought about it, he does say any player that is good enough to go in the first round already had the ball skills coming out of high school to eventually make it in the NBA with or without college. He's not talking about players selected mid to late in the draft.

I don't think Kobe is saying college is a waste of time for everyone, he is saying he doesn't believe college teaches the enough NBA skills to call college an advantage over going direct.

I'm think I'm good with where KB is with this subject.

 

[gpm1976]

If he'd done that while staying with the team in his native state rather than deliberately deceiving it's fans about
his intentions I would have more respect for him.

OFF court he's an egomaniacal piece of bleep!

You got it! Cleveland went over the salary cap to put the team of HIS choice around him and he lays an egg then proceeds to hold that 3-ring circus event where he tells the world he's putting an all-star team together down in Miami. Now that Miami is losing some of their key players that he needed so badly, he's going to take off and find the next team that can help him win. I grew up watching some great players play the game: Bird, Magic, Jordan, Thomas, Drexler.. just to name a few. Those guys wanted to beat each other, not join forces just for the sake of getting a ring.

 

[Runeman]

There is probably some truth to what you say regarding Lebron leaving Cleveland; however, The other players you mentions all played on great teams that won titles, so your example doesn't lent itself to your argument. Also, living in Miami has its advantages over Cleveland and the tax situation in Florida is better than that of Ohio. Just a thought.

 

[gpm1976]

There is probably some truth to what you say regarding Lebron leaving Cleveland; however, The other players you mentions all played on great teams that won titles, so your example doesn't lent itself to your argument. Also, living in Miami has its advantages over Cleveland and the tax situation in Florida is better than that of Ohio. Just a thought.

Yeah, but how often did you see those guys making deals w/other players so they could join forces to beat up on the rest of the league? Seeing players secretly talking w/other players to create these all-star teams is new to me and seems VERY strange. I hate that basketball has gone this direction and it makes winning championships not nearly as valuable as it used to be.

 

[Brahmsian]

There is probably some truth to what you say regarding Lebron leaving Cleveland; however, The other players you mentions all played on great teams that won titles, so your example doesn't lent itself to your argument. Also, living in Miami has its advantages over Cleveland and the tax situation in Florida is better than that of Ohio. Just a thought.

Cleveland fans have had to put up with REALLY CRAPPY teams in so many sports for so long I can't help feeling for them. They finally get some reason to hope that a local team led by someone who grew up in their state, and that person flat out lies to them for a full season about his intentions! To me that counts for a LOT more than whether or not I'd want to live in that city.

BTW, I have passed through Cleveland on the way somewhere else, but have never lived anywhere near it.

 

[gpm1976]

Cleveland fans have had to put up with REALLY CRAPPY teams in so many sports for so long I can't help feeling for them. They finally get some reason to hope that a local team led by someone who grew up in their state, and that person flat out lies to them for a full season about his intentions! To me that counts for a LOT more than whether or not I'd want to live in that city.

BTW, I have passed through Cleveland on the way somewhere else, but have never lived anywhere near it.

He was good when he played here, but I'm still not buying that he is anywhere near what MJ was... and anyone who says otherwise has never seen MJ take over in the post season. I still remember lebrons final game in cleveland where he posted an amazing 16 points in the loss to Boston. Shaq played 15 minutes, needed a walker to get up and down the court and still put up more points than lebron. There's talk that lebron wants to come back to cleveland because wade can't play anymore and cleveland is finally putting together some decent young talent. I hope they don't pick him back up.

 

[Runeman]

He was good when he played here, but I'm still not buying that he is anywhere near what MJ was... and anyone who says otherwise has never seen MJ take over in the post season. I still remember lebrons final game in cleveland where he posted an amazing 16 points in the loss to Boston. Shaq played 15 minutes, needed a walker to get up and down the court and still put up more points than lebron. There's talk that lebron wants to come back to cleveland because wade can't play anymore and cleveland is finally putting together some decent young talent. I hope they don't pick him back up.

IMO, most folks would agree that MJ was the better player and whether or not that is important regarding this thread is questionable. Fact is MJ played college ball and Lebron did not. MJ probably was not ready for the pros at age 18 as was Lebron and I guess we could compare the two as to whether college provided MJ a superior academic education and basketball preparation than what Lebron received by going pro. I don't see going pro for Lebron has hurt him in any way and college certainly didn't hurt MJ and I also don't think that Kobe was knocking college either, so I'm not sure what this thread is all about.