In response to Alex Marcheschi’s April 1 column, “Myth Madness: College players don’t try harder than NBA players”:
This myth has been around for quite some time now and always turns into a controversial issue. Although you say college players don’t try harder than NBA players; more factors are on the line than just pure effort given. College players have to work to maintain their scholarship, that’s even if they have one, and worry about their academic performance. Not everyone on a college roster receives a scholarship to play. NBA players on the other hand merely just have to show up to practice. Everyone on an NBA team has signed a contract and gets paid an ungodly amount of money. With this being said College players work harder to reach their goals of receiving money to pay for their school.
We all know that NBA players possess more skills than college players, isn’t that why they got drafted into the NBA in the first place? NBA is the next step and like you said, “the most competitive basketball league in the world.” College players dream of playing in the NBA one day. To make these dreams reality, college players have to bust their butts everyday to make it to the big leagues. They don’t have a choice but to try harder. Once a player enters the NBA they no longer have school to stress about and scouts watching you. You will simply just have yourself, your team and a basketball to worry about.
Like you said, “college players seem to be doing it for the love of the game.” I would have to agree with you on this one. College players play their heart out every game as opposed to NBA players who do not. Perhaps this is because of the schedule length for College vs. NBA basketball. College players play, give or take, about 30 games per season and NBA plays an 82 game season. You cannot tell me that NBA players put every ounce of effort on the line in all 82 of those games. You see the real effort come playoff time. College players having about a 30 game season do not have time to get burned out. They try hard and put their effort and emotion into every game, not just as individual players but as a team as well.
Kevin Ware for Louisville had one of the worst injuries the game has seen in a long time while playing Duke. His lower right leg shattered as he landed awkwardly after a jump. The injury is one thing, but what caught my eye was the reaction his teammates and opposing team had. His team had tears in their eyes for much of the remainder of the game. Duke players were also in awe. You would not see this same reaction if this happened to a random NBA player. Yes you would get a coping response from the crowd, but the players would not feel the injury as a team. The NBA is more of “who can shine” as an individual. College players on the other hand work harder to succeed as a team and reach certain goals.
Furthermore, sports fans say that college kids just play for fun and that NBA players, “are working their jobs.” College kids do not play for fun, that’s why people play high school basketball. College basketball players play and work hard to get through school in hopes of making it to the NBA. Key words here: making it. Not everyone is cut out for the prestigious NBA skill level, but they have to work harder on a daily basis to make it there.
Lindsey Lykins is a junior studying speech language pathology at Ohio University.
