The NBA is Anti-Scrub

Guess the NBA doesn't need players to raise the team GPA

There’s been plenty of big name, can’t miss prospects that are early picks in the NBA Draft that end up as busts.  There have also been a few players who are not highly touted that end up as NBA All-Stars.  Ben Wallace was undrafted.  Gilbert Arenas was a 2nd round selection and is now the greatest player ever to play… in his own mind.  As far as I know, however, all of these players attained some semblance of success at a lower level of competition.  They must have because it appears the NBA has a strict rule that prohibits players without a decent pedigree from entering the league.  There go my dreams of glory. 

Mark Titus put his name in the NBA Draft after his junior season at Ohio State, but then was told he needed to withdraw his name because he was making a mockery of the process.  Here’s his own blog post about the process. 

Coach Thad Matta calls him the best shooter on the team.  It sounds like he could be useful in the NBA.  So he didn’t get his first defensive rebound until his sophomore season, he’s a late bloomer.  OK, this year he was 11th on the team in rebounds, with 1, and 10th on his team in steals, with 1. 

Still, is this guy entering the draft any more of a mockery than Adam Morrison being picked 3rd or Mark Madsen being drafted at all? 

Fine, NBA, you don’t want to open the door for any and every schmo to put their name in your draft.  Don’t hide behind the ‘we don’t want to make a mockery of it’ excuse though.  We all know that if LeBron had wanted to walk up and hit David Stern in the face with a pie when he was selected, you would’ve been cool with it.   

In fact, I seem to remember Joachim Noah looking like this at the draft, so there seems to be a sliding scale. 

LeBron, Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, or any other sure-fire superstar can physically assault, harass and defile the commish as they please. 

Noah, Brook Lopez, Ronnie Brewer or any other late-lottery role player can embarrass themselves as they please. 

Titus and any other college walk-ons or pick-up game All-Stars can get the hell out of the way, as they please.

 Via The Dagger

Tags: basketball, Mark Titus, NBA, NBA Draft, NCAA, Ohio State

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