Jermaine O' Neal asked whether race had something to do with the desire to add an age limit to the NBA. Jason Whitlock says that it's all business...his post is too idiotic to link to. Find it if you want. I just want to take a look at two paragraphs:
No, it's not. It's business. Despite James' success, and the fact that seven strait-outta-hi-skool players earned spots in the NBA All-Star Game, the influx of unprepared teenage ballers has been bad for the NBA. The growth value of NBA franchises is not keeping pace with NFL and MLB franchises. The league isn't as important as it once was, and Stern is trying to head off a tidal wave of negative publicity directed at the league.
Statement: The influx of unprepared teenage ballers has been bad for the NBA.
How many teenage ballers have entered the league? When he says they are "unprepared" exactly what does he mean? Is Stoudemire unprepared? James? Was Kobe unprepared? Garnett?
Then he says that this group has been "bad for the NBA." How? Here's where the next paragraph comes in:
Fans don't enjoy the game the way they used to, and they're becoming more and more hostile toward the players. O'Neal has a $100-million contract. In his mind he's a huge star. He has no clue how much more of a star he would be had he spent two or three years in college being hyped up by Dick Vitale, Billy Packer, Jay Bilas, Digger Phelps and Clark Kellogg. O'Neal spent his college years sitting on the Portland bench, collecting a fat check. That was good for Jermaine O'Neal. It was not good for the NBA.
Statement:Fans don't enjoy the game the way they used to, and they're becoming more and more hostile towards the players.
Ok. How are you defining "enjoying the game?" Is it by seats in the stadium? By ratings? By the purchase of jerseys? What? They're becoming more hostile towards the players? How? By what measure?
Then comes the kicker--O'Neal's sitting on the bench was good for him...but he SHOULD'VE been in college.
Whitlock's column consists of a bunch of implied causal statements, with absolutely no attempt to actually show the linkages between high school aged ballers and the problems he notes. Hell, last I heard Ron Artest actually WENT to school. Damn I wish Ralph Wiley were here.