The Kid isn't a bad example for other kids

Sporting News, The, April 8, 1996 by Shaun Powell

With the season winding down to its final weeks, it's a good time to assess the damage and injustice done to Kevin Garnett, the teenager many thought made a huge mistake by passing up college for the NBA.

For those expecting to discover a prime example of human failure or the premature downfall of a life barely begun, you won't find it.

Garnett has never been caught stumbling out of a bar in a drunken stupor. He hasn't missed practice. He hasn't cursed the coach. Or been busted by the law. Or created a wedge between his teammates.

And he has never made Timberwolves G.M. Kevin McHale regret drafting him with the No. 5 pick last summer.

Garnett has carried himself better than most 25-year-olds. He is hard-working, professional, mature beyond his years and completely team-oriented. That's pretty unusual behavior for a Timberwolves first-round pick, or even for Christian Laettner, who, by the way, has a Duke degree.

As for his life on the court, Garnett's turning point came when the T-Wolves traded Laettner to the Hawks and made Garnett a starter. Three weeks after the trade, Garnett scored a career-high 33 points against the Celtics. He has averaged almost 18 points and nine rebounds in the last month.

"He's incredible," McHale said recently. "In a few years, nobody's going to be able to touch this kid."

His rookie season doesn't come without a cost. There are precious life experiences that Garnett will never recapture because of his decision to skip school. He blew the chance to live among the protective atmosphere of a college campus. He can't broaden his mind by mingling with non-student-athletes, or grow up with those his age. He didn't have the benefit of college to sharpen his intellect or develop necessary social skills required for the real world.

As John Wallace, who returned to Syracuse last summer after flirting with the NBA, says: "No money can buy the feeling of making the Final Four."

Amen.

The best advice is to go to college and stay four years. But that's also like Magic Johnson telling kids the best way to avoid HIV is by practicing abstinence. That's not going to happen.

This summer may bring another high school-to-the-NBA leap. It's being studied by at least three -- Kobe Bryant, who attends school in the Philadelphia suburbs, South Carolina's Jermaine O'Neal and Tim Thomas of New Jersey. Plus, entering the week it appeared as if Stephon Marbury would leave Georgia Tech after one season on campus.

The howling from politically correct critics already has begun, but if the wrinkle-free transition of Garnett has proved anything, it is this: Hardship cases should be taken on an individual basis. Not everyone is doomed to fail. Not everyone shares the same situation or circumstance.

If Marbury and Bryant and O'Neal and Thomas aren't good enough, the NBA will let them know. If they lack the skills for the pro level, then they won't get drafted. Or they'll be taken much lower than they expected. Then they'll have the right to return to school or, in the case of Bryant, Thomas and O'Neal, go to school.

For some reason, there's a double standard with teenage players who consider the NBA. High school baseball players go directly to the professional leagues every year, yet that's accepted. Few boxers ever attend college or even complete high school. How much flak did Eric Lindros get for heading straight to the NHL? Even in the NFL, the outcry regarding players leaving after their sophomore and junior years is marginal, which is strange considering their bodies still need to develop to meet the demands of the NFL.

Marbury is a basketball prodigy. He's also considered, at the very least, the second-best NBA prospect at point guard in the country. It's his choice, and if he believes the NBA is best for him and will enhance his life and help his family, then it's the right choice for Stephon Marbury.

As we now know, Kevin Garnett is a poor example of someone who made a terrible decision a year ago.

Lost in transition

He's a good college coach, no doubt, and making the Final Four didn't hurt. John Calipari's name always has been discussed in NBA circles, and there's a good chance the Massachusetts coach will draw interest this summer, when as many as four NBA jobs could open.

"He's one of the smartest coaches I've ever seen," says Pacers Coach Larry Brown, who hired Calipari as an assistant at Kansas.

Working against Calipari's chances is history, which says college coaches without NBA experience don't make good NBA coaches. The primary reason they fail is communication. College coaches find it difficult to adjust to the next level, where the program belongs to the players. In the pros, college coaches must deflate their egos, and that's not easy for most. Rick Pitino is an automatic NBA candidate, maybe the most attractive out there, because he is a proven NBA commodity. He knows the deal.

NBA teams that adore Calipari may want to examine the careers of the last two college coaches who went to the NBA without prior experience -- Jerry Tarkanian and P.J. Carlesimo. Tarkanian didn't last two months in San Antonio, and Carlesimo may be coaching his final month in Portland because there's a mutiny among his best players. If the Blazers fire Carlesimo, their experiment will have been an expensive one: He has three years left on his contract at $1.5 million per.