Quote:
Originally Posted by CHIP72
The Celtics didn't "let" Larry Bird play in college for two more years; they drafted him as a future eligible player. (Bird's college class age-wise graduated in 1978, which is why Bird was eligible for the 1978 draft despite having one year* of college eligibility remaining, which he decided to use.) I think Bird stayed in college largely because his mother strongly wanted to him to attend college and get a degree. Also, I think Bird didn't become a strong NBA prospect until during his junior year at Indiana State (1977-78), in large part because Bird's high school and college (1 year) stats up to that point had mostly been compiled against weaker competition. IMO, Bird couldn't have made the jump to the NBA directly from high school or even after one year of college, not because he didn't have great skill and couldn't have played in the NBA as a young player (I personally think he could have from a pure basketball standpoint), but because he was shy, unsophisticated kid from a small town and would have had trouble adjusting to the NBA personality-wise as an 18, 19, or 20 year old. That last point is something that shouldn't be lost with LeBron James - for a guy who came from a single parent household and relatively difficult circumstances, James was unusually business-savvy at a young age.
Incidentally, it should be noted college experience wasn't that big of a deal even in Bird's era, though having guys jump directly to pro basketball from high school was unusual. Both Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas played only two years in college before coming to the NBA, and I think both guys did alright playing professional basketball.
*I bolded this part because the error in eddiehaskell's statement above.
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The point of using "let" was to say the Celtics drafted a player who wouldn't immediately play for them. You would never see that in today's NBA (even if allowed) - no team would want to risk their lotto pick being injured playing college ball
Yes, Bird may have been shy in the 70s, but players in that era didn't get the attention they do nowadays. There was also no YouTube or social media that make it impossible for players to be overlooked. Playing high school ball in southern Indiana doesn't mean you'll be an unknown today. The times allowed for a great athlete like Bird to stay in his small town comfort zone. If Bird was developing in the modern era, he would've likely been recruited by age 14, went to camps with elite players and played AAU. Heck, he may have even went to some sort of prep school like just about every elite high schooler. Basketball simply wasn't the business it is now in the mid-70s. Pro basketball teams expected colleges to get players ready for a man's game where essentially everyone playing was 22+ years old by mid season. And you could say that Bird never adjusted personality wise to the NBA - he stayed to himself his entire career.
I think your point about Magic and Isiah help back the point of it being incredibly rare for players to jump from high school to pro ball. Over the course of 30-40 years almost no greats made the jump outside of Moses going to the ABA. Jordan, Bird, Magic, Isiah, Worthy, Dominique, Thompson - none of them played pro ball out of high school or even after their freshmen year. Take Jordan for example - I think he would've had a year similar to Kobe's rookie year straight out of high school, but probably a 25+ ppg NBA player by his sophomore season at UNC. David Thompson would've probably crushed the NBA at 17 years old (averaged 35+ at NCST). Who knows, maybe having his every move under the spot light keeps Thompson off drugs...
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