Should Student-Athletes be paid for their name, image & likeness while scholarships?

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

But why would the NBA players union ever agree to allowing younger competition?

And I think your question is the exact reason the NBA hasn't done anything yet. Without thinking this through thoroughly, yet, my initial response is it's only a year. Does one solitary year have a significant impact on the earnings and career potentials of existing NBA players?

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

I guess I'm a bit of a curmudgeon about all this. I look at athletic scholarships as a way for thousands of kids to get help in getting higher education. If student athletes (very few would really benefit) want money for their image, GO PRO, and if one feels they need a college education later, they can go about it like everyone else does. Frankly, I could care less about the big time schools than can afford this. It's all the other schools I'm concerned about. It simply makes the big schools bigger and the other schools farther behind. Such a bill's affect on student athletes at a large majority of schools would be minimal (they simply won't use the athletes' images) except that it concentrates the talent even further.

Next step (or is this also included) is their image being use on TV count? In other words, they're not really amateur athletes.

I hear ya. My opinion has shifted back and forth on this several times. The value of tuition is often overlooked and unfairly marginalized in this debate.

But here's an interesting thought experiment. What if an art student, on scholarship, produces a work of art as a project at school? And what if, for whatever reason, an academic/artistic organization somehow related to the university told that art student they could not sell that work of art or benefit from it financially in any way? Or what if it's a creative writing student who wants to start a blog and make money through affiliate links on their website, but is told they cannot do that? Why? Is that fair? These aren't exact comparisons to athletics, but it's close.

[Kung Wu]

And I think your question is the exact reason the NBA hasn't done anything yet. Without thinking this through thoroughly, yet, my initial response is it's only a year. Does one solitary year have a significant impact on the earnings and career potentials of existing NBA players?

I have no clue. I think maybe they are hoping a bunch of them will get their knees snapped in college, so there will be less competition? :) I really don't know, but I do think the players union is the key road block here.

[Aargh]

I think both the players and the front offices want colleges to introduce the high school guys to how it's done after high school. There's a lot of "prima donna" that a year in college begins to deal with.

In response to Rocky Mountain Shock's comparison to art and English students, I don't think you'd see a bidding war break out for those art and English majors.

[Cdizzle]

I hear ya. My opinion has shifted back and forth on this several times. The value of tuition is often overlooked and unfairly marginalized in this debate.

But here's an interesting thought experiment. What if an art student, on scholarship, produces a work of art as a project at school? And what if, for whatever reason, an academic/artistic organization somehow related to the university told that art student they could not sell that work of art or benefit from it financially in any way? Or what if it's a creative writing student who wants to start a blog and make money through affiliate links on their website, but is told they cannot do that? Why? Is that fair? These aren't exact comparisons to athletics, but it's close.

I worked on a number of projects in my field in university, using my substantial talents, and the product of those efforts belonged to the university. I was not free to profit from them. I was free to point to the projects and university as a job reference.

And they weren't even giving me full tuition and board, and certainly weren't giving me full tuition and board to a university for which I had no other hopes of getting into.



The real irony of this whole thing, to me, is members of a Labor Union bemoaning a 3rd party not paying Individual X what the Labor Union member thinks the 3rd party should be paying Individual X, all the while the Labor Union is....wait for it......literally refusing to hire and pay Individual X using, wait for it........age discrimination as the basis.

[Kel Varnsen]

[Kung Wu]

Now you're just being silly.

Look bro .... Lebron?

Bench press? Lebron.
Bank account? Lebron.
Fame and glory? Lebron.
Three point shot? Lebron.
Smash a pk upper 90? Kung Wu.
Gorgeous hotty for a wife? Kung Wu. Okay probably a wash, but whatever.

... but let's get to what really counts ...

Best two out of three at chess???

I'm calling him out right here on Shockernet. I'm coming at you Lebron!! Let's play some skittles, woodpusher!

Lebron gets two of three? He gets to revamp the NCAA league to his liking.

But if Kung Wu wins? I get Lebron and YOUR ass!!







I meant that very,very figuratively.





Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Awesome Sauce Malone]

I have no clue. I think maybe they are hoping a bunch of them will get their knees snapped in college, so there will be less competition? :) I really don't know, but I do think the players union is the key road block here.

The NBA and Union announced that the rule wont be in effect by 2021 but then the NBA reversed course to say they wanted to keep the age limit at 18. So its all in the works.
Regarding one year and potential earnings. We're talking millions of dollars here and not just in contract earnings and endorsements but they're also that closer to free agency in their 'prime" So future earnings are at stake as well.

[abdullah_sharif]

whatever happened to the fool lonzo ball’s league?

[kcshocker11]

https://sports.yahoo.com/florida-becomes-latest-state-to-introduce-legislation-calling-for-compensation-for-college-athletes-154632969.html

[ShockTalk]

Would you rather get a Dexter Dennis/Erik Stevenson Carlos O'Kellys commercial now or wait 2 more years until they graduate. This is nothing about schools paying athletes to play basketball.

Correct. It's about paying students because they play basketball. If they're not playing basketball for the school, there's nothing to talk about. Spin it however you want.

[Shocker_Power]

I took those comments to mean that the _schools_ are making a ton of money off the backs of kids, not the NCAA.

Not by the time they pay for all the non-revenue sports.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

I think both the players and the front offices want colleges to introduce the high school guys to how it's done after high school. There's a lot of "prima donna" that a year in college begins to deal with.

In response to Rocky Mountain Shock's comparison to art and English students, I don't think you'd see a bidding war break out for those art and English majors.

Ok, but a bidding war isn't the point, nor should it make a difference. The point is the principle behind it--alloying students to profit from either the work they perform, or the notoriety they receive (either as an athlete or an artist, in these examples), as scholarship college students.

[Rocky Mountain Shock]

I worked on a number of projects in my field in university, using my substantial talents, and the product of those efforts belonged to the university. I was not free to profit from them. I was free to point to the projects and university as a job reference.

And they weren't even giving me full tuition and board, and certainly weren't giving me full tuition and board to a university for which I had no other hopes of getting into.



The real irony of this whole thing, to me, is members of a Labor Union bemoaning a 3rd party not paying Individual X what the Labor Union member thinks the 3rd party should be paying Individual X, all the while the Labor Union is....wait for it......literally refusing to hire and pay Individual X using, wait for it........age discrimination as the basis.

Fair point and response. So let's (hypothetically) say your field was something in science, let's say astrophysics. And your work for the university (which we agree is property of the university) resulted in a substantial breakthrough or discovery. Then let's say someone wanted you to come speak at their event about the breakthrough, and they're willing to compensate you for your speech. Is that fine for an astrophysics student but not fine for an athlete?

Honest question, I'm not trying to set up a logic trap. I'm just trying to think through this issue and find parallels with other university endeavors.

[WuShock Reaper]

The 'Fair Pay to Play Act' explained:

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=27707508