>>You already know what I am thinking so I don't need to say it. They are not all dummies. You may not realize how sophisticated NBA game plans are. These guys need to make instant decisions and work within a system. Kind of like cops ;-)
>>
>>Do you know how rich Magic Johnson is from his movie theaters? He's a businessman now, not a basketball player. Do you know Michael Jordan has watched his investments well enough to buy an NBA team? Have you heard or read Greg Oden speak? Sure, some basketball players are dummies, black guys as well as white guys. But you are seriously mistaken to make that kind of assumption. And the assumption that anyone who grows up in a ghetto is a no hoper is, to be charitable, unkind.
>>
>>>Mike,
>
>Mike, I'm talking about the norm, not the exceptions. Most of these kids from the hood come from single parent homes, kinda like Michael Orr. I don't worry about being PC, I'm just telling it the way I've seen it. Sure, there are some kids who come through and they may have the skills, but for the most part, they don't. Bottom line, take the money after the first year, if you feel you can get a great deal, say like Derrick Rose did!

He did take the money and I don't judge him for that.

I think you are wrong about the so-called norm. I have been involved with youth soccer for years and it has taught me a lot. I grew up in a white bread state. I hardly knew any blacks or hispanics or asians growing up. You see the kids kicking a soccer ball around and you realize different. Kids are the same the world over. The sins are those of the parents and the grandparents, not the kids.

I have had two favorite players. One was a girl who had a Greek dad and a white mother. She was pure bulldog. Don't get in my way, I'm going to knock it in. And she had the sweetest smile in the world. I saw her and her parents refereeing an all star tournament a couple of years ago. Still the same sweet girl, still the dominant player on the field.

The other was a kid named Jovan from Bosnia. He spoke hardly a word of English. I think the only phrase we understood was Yes, I understand. He undoubtedly understands more now. His dad, a beefy Eastern European type, beamed. That is the history of our country, I repeat myself like a broken record. He was 7 when I coached him. When he scored his first goal he looked over at his dad. The look between them was priceless. They had come here under duress, their compatriates being slaughtered. So when you see a kid and his dad light up at a soccer goal it means something.