el Wright. I am getting pretty tired of hearing all this. I have been trying to just pop my collar- but it’s not always that easy.I’ll admit, partly why I am going pro is out of less-than-ideal intentions. Truth is, I kind of like sticking it to the colleges. That’s because a lot of people make a lot of money off kids playing basketball, but the kids themselves do not see any of it. My jersey could sell for $45 a pop at a campus store, and yet I have a tough time going out on the weekends. Now a scholarship is great, but let’s be honest- this is the same payment players have been getting for decades. It seems to me that we are bringing in much more these days. I even know some people who paid more than fifty dollars to sit in the top rows of the United Center during the Big Ten Tournament. We deserve some of that, just like any other worker would. It’s weird how some people can get all riled up about a dancing mascot at halftime, but not notice this greater injustice going on right under their noses.I also can’t stand it when people say I am messing up my life by going to the NBA. They say I should get an education. Now, I’ll admit the value of an education, but it’s just not for me right now. I am not Bill Bradley or Shane Bettier. Sitting through an economics lecture is about as useful to me as it is for someone who shovels pigeon dirt. My dream is to simply play basketball, and I can do that right now and get paid very well for it. I can even provide for my family. I thought most people would be happy for me. I know I would be if it were one of my friends. If I really want an education, I can always go back to school in the summers, or sometime later. Maybe when I’m on a plane I can read a book- I hear a lot of kids in college do not even do that. I don’t think I’ll miss the “college lifestyle” all that much, either. I can understand h...
