You're Going To Miss Kevin Durant This Season, You Just Don't Realize It Yet

Today marks the beginning of one of the most anticipated NBA seasons in recent memory. For the first time in 12 years there is no clear cut front runner, at least in the general public's perception, to win the NBA title. This new era of teams creating 2 man tandems has generated a level of excitement and suspense the league hasn't seen since LeBron James' rookie season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. For all the excitement about the league's parity and the upcoming war for basketball supremacy, there will be a huge hole in the middle of the puzzle that leaves it incomplete -- Kevin Durant's absence.

Unless you've been living under a rock since last June, you know that Durant will miss the upcoming season while he recovers from a ruptured Achilles. 'KD' sustained the injury in game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals. In the aftermath many people, including former teammate Andre Iguodala, questioned whether the Golden State Warriors pressured him to come back from a calf injury he sustained earlier in the playoffs too soon. At the time of his return, the Warriors were down 3 games to 1 to the Toronto Raptors and needed some sort of spark to help ignite a comeback. They would win the contest but eventually, lose the series.

Before this injury, Durant was widely regarded as one of the most disliked players in the NBA by fans. This was somewhat hard to understand because he is also considered the best or second best player in the league depending on who you ask. When his career is done, he will likely go down as one of the top 10 players in NBA history.

For those who may not know, Durant is a highly skilled at what he does. You could say he’s like a basketball assassin with an unlimited skillset at his disposal. Standing at a legit 6'9, he can create his shot from anywhere on the floor, moves and dribbles like a point guard and is a elite level defender, a combination the NBA hadn't seen prior to his arrival. With all the physical tools and athletic talent he has, it was destined for him to rack up all the accomplishments he's achieved thus far: 2x time NBA Champion, 2x time Finals MVP, 10x NBA All-Star, 4x NBA scoring champion, made the All-NBA team 9 times (1st team 6 times), 2 time All-Star game MVP, 2008 Rookie of the Year, consensus National College Player of the Year (the first person to win the award as a freshman and the only player to win the award in consensus fashion) and last but certainly not least, a NBA MVP award, in which his acceptance speech would go down in history as one of the best ever and capturing the hearts of many around the world.

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One may ask why a player so talented and accomplished was so disliked...

Well in the summer of 2016 Kevin made the decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team that drafted him and he spent his first nine seasons with, to join the Warriors. Many criticized the move because they felt the Warriors were already stacked and adding a player of Durant's caliber would unfairly tilt the competitive balance in Golden State's favor. The same critics also felt Durant was taking the 'easy' way out by joining the team that just prevented him to going to the Finals as opposed to wanting to dethrone them after being so 'close' to doing so.

To further complicate the situation, many felt as though he left one of his perceived best friends and former teammate Russell Westbrook lying high and dry. Durant and Westbrook played together for 8 seasons, developing a on court chemistry between 2 elite players on the same team that the league hadn't seen since Karl Malone and John Stockton played together with the Utah Jazz. Off the court, while they weren't best friends, they formed a friendship that clearly extended past the playing court. Many people will never forget how Durant called outspoken Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban "an idiot" after he paid Durant a compliment but slighted Westbrook at the same time.

Durant's decision to leave a championship ready OKC team definitely left a sting with many, including Westbrook. Shortly after the decision, Westbrook posted a picture of cupcakes on his Instagram account. While on the surface it was an ode to Independence Day, it was later revealed that this was a diss to the former by the latter. They have also had on court spats and traded jabs in the media, but have since reconciled. They may not be as close as they once were, but they are on speaking/friendly terms again and are presumably working to rebuild their friendship.

Many people felt as though while Durant was extremely talented, his inability to win a championship is what held him below 'King James' as the league's best player. Durant put that argument to bed when he won his first championship, capped off with a Finals MVP and one of the most iconic moments of his illustrious career thus far and signified a 'changing of the guard' in the NBA's pecking order for the league's best player -- a game clinching 3-pointer that swam through the net like a  shark in the ocean over the outreached hand of LeBron James.

Durant is a somewhat misunderstood person. He wants to give off the impression that he doesn't care what people think of him, but at the same time he spends time on social media defending what he does and says. No one can forget the infamous "burner account" saga. He also wants people to not care about the whole ordeal about the fashion in which he left OKC but in all honesty, as one of the biggest Kevin Durant fans, even I had a hard time trying to justify let alone defend that decision. It was almost as if he were leaving a bullied friend to join the bullies beating them both up.

His decision may have seemed that way, but the truth is, Durant was a free agent and THE WARRIORS PURSUED HIS SERVICES, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. Just as much as people say he needed the Warriors to win (more) championships, they needed him just as much if not more. Does anyone remember the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history that the Cleveland Cavs pulled off in 2016? That Warriors team did beat the Cavs the year before, but Cleveland were missing their 2nd and 3rd best players that year. In the rematch the next year, Cleveland won. Golden State knew they couldn't beat that Cavs team with their current roster and needed to do something to get the upper edge. And they did.Any team in the league was free to sign him. The Warriors just made the best pitch and presented the best opportunity for him. And he accepted it.

What person wouldn't want to have the best chance at winning a championship while also rubbing networking and building relationships with some of the most brilliant and intelligent people in Silicon  Valley (San Francisco/Oakland/Bay Area) who shaping the future of our world and putting himself in position for investment opportunities that would potentially make him more money than he would make during his playing career? Simply put, that’s just too good of an opportunity to pass up in exchange to remain ‘loyal’ to a sports franchise that can decide to release or trade you at any given moment for any reason.

Furthermore, as much as people like Russell Westbrook (myself included), people have to come to the realization that his style of play is NOT conducive to winning a championship. Kevin Durant just realized that before everyone else did. In the years since he and Westbrook have split, Durant has won 2 titles. Westbrook has won a league MVP and cemented his place amongst the current batch of elite in the league, but has also not been out of the 1st round of the playoffs.

Fast forward to the summer of 2019, after the Achilles injury in the Finals. Durant had a decision to make: Does he stay with the team that some feel he 'rode their wave' to championships and continue to be teammates with Draymond Green (whom he had a very nasty on court exchange with earlier in the season that some speculate made Durant feel alienated -- which Durant later confirmed) and also potentially threatened his career by rushing him back from a injury? Or does he go somewhere else to prove that the championships with the Warriors wasn't a 'fluke'? We now know that KD chose the second option, teaming with two of his better friends among NBA players Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan in Brooklyn to play for the Nets.

The decision has made many come back around and regain a considerable amount of respect they previously lost. Some was already gained back the night he was injured when he decided to play in that fateful game 5 of the NBA Finals. As mentioned earlier, the Warriors were down 3 games to 1 and needed a serious spark. Durant provided that. Before going down with the Achilles injury, Durant scored 11 points in 12 minutes of playing time. Who knows what could've happened if he didn't get hurt. Maybe the Warriors win that series and Durant might still be a Warrior. But things didn't play out that way so we'll never truly know.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Steph Curry, De'Angelo Russell, Draymond Green (and potentially Klay Thompson if he heals from his injury sooner than expected). Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic. Russell Westbrook and James Harden. Kemba Walker and Jason Tatum. Those are just some of the new pairs of teammates on various teams that will all scratch & claw for the NBA championship. It should make for some very compelling basketball and storylines throughout the season. It's a shame that Kevin Durant won't have a say in the conversation. Not this year at least. He would've made this season 100 times better than it is already going to be. But don’t worry. When he does come back in the 2020-2021 season, you’ll appreciate his greatness and what he brings to the basketball world a whole lot more.

Firing of St. Aug football coach Shows we live in a society ruled by double standards

In a not so surprising development, St. Augustine High School announced that Nathaniel Jones is no longer coaching at the 7th ward school after a video of a ‘racist’ chant the team performed before a game vs. Brother Martin on October 4 surfaced via social media and went viral locally.

The decision to remove Jones from his duties further illustrates how ‘soft’ and ‘politically correct’ society has become as a whole, especially in the Black-American community. The fact that the chant was labeled as ‘racist’ is laughable and scary at the same time. It shows how out of touch certain people are towards the black American culture and proves how others are willing to throw their values and what they believe in to the waist side in order to appease the masses.

That chant was nothing more than players getting themselves hyped and motivated to perform to the best of their abilities. It is no different than what happens in most other locker rooms on a weekly basis at all levels of football: from ‘park ball’ (term used in New Orleans for Pop Warner or recreational league football), middle/Jr. High, high school, college all the way to the NFL.

Was the chant candid and full of colorful language? Absolutely. Was it somewhat inappropriate? Maybe. But to say it was racist is completely senseless. According to several sources, the chant has been used for several weeks (if not longer). That would mean it was performed since the beginning of the current season. During that time, St. Aug has played Booker T. Washington HS, McDonogh 35 HS, Landry-Walker HS and John F. Kennedy HS. All of the schools mentioned have at least a 90% black student population. Would the same chant still be considered ‘racist’ if video surfaced before any of those games? Probably not.

While we’re talking about what is racist and what is not, what is so racist about a black person using the word ‘nigga?’ Yes, the word (or another variation of it - ‘nigger’) has a very ugly history in this country. So does a lot of other words, slangs and common practices that are still used to this day by people from all walks of life. The great thing about America is that we don’t let these these things define us and we have a knack for turning negatives into something that doesn’t affect us one way or another.

Ten years ago, Brother Martin (yes, the same school St. Aug played this past weekend) came under fire for a skit where students wore blackface to imitate St. Aug’s players during a skit in the school’s gym. While their intent may not have been to come off as racist, the undertones of the skit were clearly racial. When the skit became public news, Brother Martin issued an apology and life moved on. No one lost their job(s) over the incident.

St. Aug feeling the need to fire their coach when other institutions refused to do so in the face of more serious circumstances/situation is a prime example of the double standard society has placed on the African-American community. As a Catholic School that is supposed to he the shining light of the New Orleans community, yes St. Aug had a responsibility to protect its reputation, its brand, and and to make this incident a ‘teachable’ moment for its students, faculty, staff, and everyone else. That being said, the lesson wasn’t well received and the punishment does NOT fit the crime. A suspension would’ve sufficed and gotten the same point across.

We live in a world where Donald Trump was elected President of the United States less than two weeks after an audio recording surfaced of him telling someone else to grab a female ‘by the pussy.’, In the very same country, a football coach can lose his job for his BLACK players using the ‘n word’ in a chant that wasn’t even directed towards any individual or any specific group? Please make St. Aug firing their coach over that chant/video make sense.

As long as people give power to certain words to be able bring out negative reactions and emotions, those words will continue to enslave those same people and there will always be an easy way to get the better of those same people. Additionally, as long as people make decisions to satisfy others and to ‘save face’ instead of doing what is best for themselves, it’ll always be more difficult for them to stay ahead of the proverbial curve.

Antonio Brown Isnt Riding on 20 Inch Chrome Right Now, And Its 100% His Fault

Antonio Brown likes to say his name and brand is ’Boomin’. As of late, he is correct. His name has been all over tv screens, internet articles, blog sites, has talked about in barbershops and has been all over social media. The problem is though, it has been ’boomin’ for all the wrong reasons.

Lately, Brown has outdone himself in self-sabotaging his playing career. For quite some time, he has exhibited behaviors that would make any reasonable person wonder if he is a 12-year-old adolescent stuck in a 31-year- old perennial all-pro WR’s body.

This latest revolution around ‘Antonio’s world’ started when the Oakland Raiders (whom he forced a trade to in March after a nasty break-up with the Pittsburgh Steelers) began their training camp and ’AB’ wasn’t present on the field. It was later revealed that he had frostbite on his feet from not wearing the proper footwear while in a cryotherapy chamber.

The next episode occurred when he refused to practice because the NFL banned the helmet he had worn for the previous nine seasons. Brown threatened to retire over the matter and even left the team in the midst of camp. Once that issue was resolved (and he secured a new helmet endorsement), he posted a copy of the letter on his Instagram detailing how had been fined for missing practices, team meetings and conduct detrimental to the team. He and Raiders GM Mike Mayock had a huge verbal altercation, the team voided his contract and AB demanded to be released via Instagram because as he put it "there’s no way I play after they took that (his guaranteed money) away and made my contract week to week." Later that same day, Brown’s wish was granted as he was released by Oakland before ever appearing in a game for the Raiders. He earned $0 of the $54 million contract he signed. Of that total contract value, $30 million was guaranteed.

Roughly 5 hours later, the New England Patriots announced that they would sign AB. Things appeared to be balancing out for Brown but the peace wouldn’t last long as his professional and personal life began to unravel even more. The day after he signed with the Patriots ($15 million total - including a $9 million signing bonus) he was sued for sexual assault by a former trainer (the statue of limitations had run out to pursue any criminal charges). Amid this news, the Patriots decided to stick with Brown, provided he could focus on football and not have any contact with his accuser(s). After his first game, Sports Illustrated’s website published a story where another woman accused him of sexual misconduct and filed a seperate lawsuit. Once the story broke, Brown broke the one cardinal rule New England gave him: he contacted the second accuser in a group message that also included his attorney and two people within his inner-circle. In the messages, he attempted to intimidate the woman and instructed his associates to look into her background. Once New England got wind of this incident, they released him. Brown appeared in one game and earned a little bit over $158,000 as a member of the Patriots.

For those keeping score, in the past 2 months, Brown has been released by 2 NFL teams, accused of sexual misconduct and sued by 2 different women, lost 2 major endorsement deals, and lost out on the potential of earning a total of $39 million guaranteed.

In the wake of all of the recent developments, Brown has taken to Twitter to announce that he is done playing in the NFL and is re-enrolling at Central Michigan University to finish school and earn his degree. He explained his main reason from walking away from football is the fact team owners and front office executives can void and not pay up on guaranteed portions of contracts. While he has long maintained that he doesn’t need football, it is hard to imagine a player of his caliber still in his physical prime just walking away from the game and staying gone.

Over the course of his 9 year career, AB has totaled 842 receptions (currently 28th all-time), 11,263 total yards (34th all-time) and has hauled in 75 touchdown catches (34th all-time). He has been named a first team All-Pro 4 times, has made 8 Pro-Bowl teams, and has led the league in receptions on two seperate occasions. These are numbers and accolades that definitely put AB on a Hall of Fame trajectory. Many would argue that what he has done up to this point already deserves a spot in Canton, OH amongst the other immortals of the sport.

While it seems right now that no one wants him, the NFL has constantly proven that no matter what is going on in your personal life that one of their teams will employ you as long as you can still play at a high level. Past examples of this notion can be found in the cases of Ben Roethlisberger, Greg Hardy, Richie Incognito, Donte Stallworth and Michael Vick to name a few.

The main problem with Brown finding a landing spot anywhere in the near future is the fact that he is viewed as an extremely selfish player that only cares about himself, his personal stats and is considered cancerous to any locker room he sets foot into. There have been several occasions where he has thrown teammates under the bus, gone against team rules in order to further his personal brand, and has generally not cared about collateral damage he causes as long as he gets his way.

A number of former players (Shannon Sharpe and Michael Vick to name a few) have publicly called him out for his destructive behavior. Former teammate Ryan Clark detailed how he saw the warning signs of AB’s behavior long before the general public became aware and even went as far as to say that Brown was just "not a good human being."

Simply put, Antonio Brown is seen as a toxic person that no team in the NFL wants to deal with at this point. He is the equivalent of a nuclear wasteland that no one wants to go near because they fear they’ll be contaminated.

If Brown wants to play in the NFL again, he needs to take a really long look within himself, do some serious soul searching and adopt more of a team friendly personality. He is already projected to be a first ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible. It would be a shame for him to have to wait several years, similar to Terrell Owens’ ordeal, before eventually being enshrined.

The question is, does AB want to be as successful for himself as the people and fans around him want him to be? As long as his attitude doesn’t change, AB will never ride 20 inch chrome.

Bonus content:
Even though Brown has worn out his welcome in 3 NFL locker rooms, there are a few teams that may decide to take a chance on him before the season is done. The Miami Dolphins seem to be a logical destination seeing as though it is Brown’s hometown and the team needs some type of way to get fans in South Florida to attend games and drum up interest in the team.

Another team that could sign brown at some point are the Detroit Lions. The Lions have a very talented QB in Matt Stafford and a pretty decent offense around him, but there is no ’alpha’ type WR on their roster that is as talented or accomplished as Brown is. He would instantly make them better and a playoff contender. The Lions are also coached by Matt Patricia, a former New England assistant who comes from the Bill Belicheck coaching tree. It is feasible to think Patricia can do with Brown what the Patriots couldn’t.
Two other teams that come to mind are the Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans as good on the field fits. In Denver, he would be reunited with former Steeler teammate Emmanuel Sanders. They both seemed to flourish together while in Pittsburgh and can duplicate that success in the Mile High City with veteran QB Joe Flacco (who needs as much help as he can get). Tennessee makes sense for all the same reasons Detroit does. Solid team ready to make a playoff push, but lack a truly dominant receiver that always commands attention and can take the focus off the run. The Titans are coached by Mike Vrabel, a former Patriot who played under, you guessed it, Bill Belicheck.

When Will HBCU Football Programs Be ’Great’ Again?

Its that time of year again — where HBCU football teams take trips to play their FBS counterparts in ’money games’ (that usually ends up with an embarrassing loss and a bruised ego for the HBCU). The main reason for these games being scheduled is for a easy win for the more dominant school and for the lower level schools keeping their respective athletic budgets afloat.

This practice has been pretty standard for quite some time now, with some host universities even going so far as to require the visting team’s band to show up and perform in order for the school to secure their paychecks (in which most cases, the band sees none of this money). The FBS schools that schedule these games know that in most cases, no one wants to go to see their beloved nationally ranked team beat up on an FCS school with ‘inferior’ talent, coaches, facilities and overall resources, so they require the HBCUs to bring their band along to try to maximize the attendance. Think of it as lagniappe.

In some cases, HBCUs schools keep the games competitive. Just last week, Alabama State University lost to the University of Alabama at Birmingham by 5 points - a big ’moral victory’ considering UAB was a 42.5 point favorite to win, won 10 games last season against other FBS schools - including a bowl game, and ASU finished last season 4-7.

In an extremely rare case, an HBCU pulls off an upset of their FBS ’big brother.’ In 2017, Howard University defeated UNLV in the biggest point-spread upset in modern college football history. They also received a $600,000 payday for making the trip from the nation’s capital to ’Sin City.’

It’s no secret that the majority of rosters of these Power 5/blue blood conference and ’Group of 5’ conference schools are comprised of African-American athletes. And more times than not, they are generally the best players on each of these teams. With the large success and profitability of college football coming largely on the backs of black players, one question always lingers — how and when will the best black athletes start choosing HBCUs over their PWI counterparts?

ESPN 2019’s number 1 overall high school football player Kavon Thibideaux signed with the University of Oregon. But before that, he made headlines when he made an official visit to FAMU (an HBCU). On the surface, there’s no big deal about it, but when you do a little deeper digging, you will find that players on Thibadoux’s caliber NEVER even consider visiting a black college, let alone attending one. So the fact that he even visited was considered a huge win and a ray of hope for all-black schools.

Some of the best players in the history of the sport have come from HBCUs, including several Hall of Famers: Jerry Rice, Walter Payton, Michael Strahan, Mel Blunt, Deacon Jones, Shannon Sharpe and Aeneas Williams just to name a few.
 

Other HBCU players who haven’t been enshrined imto the HOF but have made a profound impact at the highest level of football include Steve McNair, Doug Williams, Donald Driver, Ben Coats, Nate Newton, Robert Mathis, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Hugh Douglas.

The main argument against the top athletes choosing these schools is that the financial resources hail in comparison to PWIs, the facilities are not up to par for the players to fully develop (who could forget the fiasco at Grambling State in 2013?), and that the level of competition not being as strong as the FBS level. Another long standing argument against players going to HBCUs are that it will be harder for them to make it to the NFL and when they get there, they will be fundamentally ’behind the curb.’

To the first concern, there is a clear solution. If the top players choose HBCUs, the money will follow them to said universities - this helping them become better athletes and drawing more eyeballs to HBCU football, which will help money trickle into these universities & helping them prosper as a whole. If these players start going to these schools in droves, the level of competition will also increase, the top coaches will come and facilities will be substantially upgraded. From there, the product would be much better.

As far as it being harder to make it to the NFL from HBCUs, look no further than 2019 Houston Texans 1st round pick Tytus Howard - an Alabama State University product. Howard was the third offensive lineman taken in the draft and figures to be the opening day starter when the Texans take on the New Orleans Saints. Howard is a prime example of the old saying “if you’re good enough, they will find you.”


So with all of that being said, the question remains, what excuses do top athletes have now to not give back to the universities that gave so much to black people for so long? It is past time that our colleges and universities get the spotlight they deserve.

Tony Romo's Lasting Legacy Draws Debate As QB Retires; Hall of Fame Looms?

What if I told you an undrafted free agent QB went from 3rd string on the depth chart to being the biggest star on ‘America’s Team’ team for over a decade? That’s exactly what happened to Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys as he went from a relatively unknown prospect in 2003 to being a full time starter in 2006.

After playing 14 seasons, Romo announced yesterday that he is retiring to pursue a career in broadcasting. He cited his family and health as being the primary factors in deciding to walk away from the game. As first reported by The Sports Business Journal, he will replace Phil Simms as the ‘top analyst’ for CBS Sports' football coverage beginning next season.

photo image via Tony Romo (@tony.romo)/Instagram

The announcement comes as somewhat of a shock to some. While Romo recently went through perhaps his most difficult seasons as a pro, most experts presumed he would sign with another team poised to make a Super Bowl run who only needed a veteran QB as the missing piece to their respective puzzle. 

He was placed on injured reserve last season after a pre-season back injury and replaced by rookie QB Dak Prescott. Prescott seized that opportunity and never looked back. The Cowboys decided to stick with younger signal caller, who by all accounts surpassed all expectations in spectacular fashion and winning over legions of supporters in the Dallas fanbase, coaching staff, front office brass and eventually, legendary owner/GM Jerry Jones.

During his 14 year career he was a second team All-Pro in 2014, a 4 time Pro Bowler (2006, 2007, 2009, 2014), he holds the 4^th highest passer rating in NFL history (97.1) and also has the highest 4^th quarter QB rating of all time. Additionaly, he is the Cowboys’ all-time leader in passing yards (34,183) and touchdown passes (248).

Romo played his entire career with the Dallas Cowboys. They aren’t just any ‘run of the mill’ franchise. At an estimated value of $4 billion dollars, the Dallas Cowboys are the world’s most valuable sports team and are generally expected to legitimately contend for and/or win the Super Bowl every year. With lofty goals like that, a lot of attention is given to the team’s quarterback, on and off the field.

 photo image by Karen Warren/chron.com staff

Romo has been the subject of many heated debates among fans and professional commentators within the sports world. While his career numbers are stellar, his fragile injury prone body along with his sub .500 post-season record have drawn criticism; drawing some harsh critiques from even from the most loyal of Cowboy fans.

While injuries are a part of the game and no one can predict exactly when they’ll occur, it is worth noting that Romo has suffered his injuries at untimely points during his team’s seasons. When he did go down, it usually occurred during a stretch where his team was fighting for a playoff berth. As a result of him not being able to play those crucial games, the Cowboys usually missed out on the post-season. This would lead some to question his toughness or if he was even cut out to be a NFL QB.

 photo image by Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Along with injuries, his lack of playoff success is also another knock on him. Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach are probably the two most known/successful QBs in Cowboys history. They are both known for winning multiple Super Bowl championships and are both Hall of Famers. The former was the general of a 1990s dynasty that won three Super Bowl titles and the latter brought back two in the 1970s; with Romo at the helm, Dallas only won 2 Wild Card games and never reached the NFC Championship game. While some of those loses can be attributed bad breaks, by and large the blame is placed on a QB for a team's post-season success or lack thereof. Rightfully or not, Romo had to shoulder the blame for all the failures of his Cowboys teams.
If one were asked to sum up Romo’s career with one play, they would probably choose the failed extra point attempt to tie a playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks define his legacy.

For all of the negatives one can point out about Romo, there are just as many positives. As earlier stated, he enjoyed his best season as a pro in 2014 gaining a 2^nd team All-Pro nod. Romo is also responsible for Dallas winning their first playoff game in 13 years and many would say had he not been on the field, they wouldn’t have been in a position to even make the playoffs in some of those years. He’s also engineered 28 4^th quarter comeback victories, the most in Cowboys history. These numbers and accomplishments are nothing to simply ignore or downplay.

If you ask 10 different NFL fans their opinion of Romo’s career/legacy, you’re sure to get 10 unique responses. Some may say he’s the greatest QB in franchise history; some may say he was “ok” or “decent”; some will probably say he wasn’t that good of a QB and hindered Dallas from reaching its full potential during his playing years. If he will ever be voted into the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible remains to be seen, but he certainly deserves some serious consideration at the very least.

Harry Giles ISN'T Ready For The NBA...Not Yet At Least

It’s that time of year again; the time where college basketball dominates the sports cycle.

During this time, many young talented players make life-changing decisions regarding their respective futures; whether to stay in college for at least another year or to declare for the annual NBA Draft.

Yesterday, Duke freshman forward Harry Giles made his decision when he officially declared for the 2017 NBA draft.

Some people will applaud him for making this decision. I am not one of those people. I’ll get into why I feel the way I do in a little bit, but first let me give a brief summary of Giles’ back story.

As a highly touted freshman at Wesleyan Christian Academy, Giles' play was impressive and he turned heads natuonwide. He averaged 12.9 points per game playing on the varsity team. Prior to his sophomore year, he tore his left ACL and unfortunately missed the entire season. He bounced back in a big way as a junior with a spectacular campaign, averaging 23.9 points per game and 12.5 rebounds per contest. Going into his senior year, he decided to follow the path of many NBA players before him such as Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and Rajon Rondo, by attending Oak Hill Academy. Once again his season was cut short by tearing his right ACL during the team’s first scrimmage.

Despite these tremendous setbacks, he was still named the #1 rated high school player in the nation for the 2015-2016 school year. He received scholarship offers from Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Kentucky, Wake Forest, and the University of Kansas. We’re talking ‘blue bloods’ of college basketball. None of these schools pulled their offers after his SECOND serious injury while still in high school. That’s how good a player he was was at the time. Many called him the next coming of Kevin Garnett, which is a major compliment itself, considering 'KG' will be a first ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible for consideration in 2021.

Giles accepted a scholarship offer from Duke. Once he arrived on campus, things took a downward turn. After missing the first 8 games of the season while still recovering from his second ACL surgery, he finally took the court to play. By most accounts he didn’t live up to the lofty expectations set upon him. He averaged 3.9 points, 3.8 rebounds while playing 11.5 minutes per game. These are hardly numbers one would expect from a phenom like Giles. Most players whose stat line looked like this would WANT to stay in college to improve their averages and subsequently their draft stock.

Some people may ask “Who are you to tell someone when they’re ready to leave college? Are you an NBA scout?” I’ll be the first to tell you I'm certainly not one. However I do watch a good bit of basketball. Giles hasn't given himself enough time to develop a back-to the basket game or to hone his defensive skills. These are essential attributes to be a productive 'big' in the NBA. He could also put on a bit more muscle and add a few more lbs to his fragile, injury prone frame to be able to play 82+ games per season.

Quite simply, Giles just doesn't pass the eyeball test to me at this point. I'm not saying he won't ever be good a good player in the league but based on what I've seen up to this point, a team will be drafting him on pure potential and not actual production. Correct me if I'm wrong, but by most experts' standards production is the main quality that gets players to the NBA, especially freshman who decide to leave after only one year.

Additionally, he is the 14th best prospect in June's draft according to ESPN's Chad Ford and is currently slated to be a mid-1st round pick in what is an already weak draft class. That should scream to a player of his caliber to remain in school.

Some may point to the likes of Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis, and Kevin Love and how easily they transitioned from one year of college to being bonafied NBA stars. You could even point out fellow former Duke players such as Kyrie Irving, Jabari Parker & Brandon Ingram as ‘one & done’ phenoms that have come into the NBA and have had success. For all those guys, I would point to Anthony Bennett, Greg Oden, Jerryd Bayless, or even Michael Beasley, who (at best) has had a up & down career.

photo image by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Others may also point out the fact that the longer these players stay in college, the longer the NCAA get to profit off their hard work & name for almost nothing in return (besides a scholarship). I wholeheartedly agree with this point. There aren’t too many things in the world that upset me more than the current way college sports are set up (coaches, athletic directors, schools and the NCAA making millions of dollars while the players don’t get paid at all). But that’s another story for another day. Besides, that's not the point I'm trying to get at now. I'm talking strictly on-court performance.

As a lifelong Duke men’s basketball fan, there’s nothing I love to see more than a player from the team I cheer for so unapologetically decide to take his talents to the next level. It demonstrates the ability of the program to prepare players to compete at the highest level of basketball while making a very generous salary. It also makes the program more desirable to potential future recruits.

Selfishly, I must admit that a tiny part of me wants Giles to stay so that Duke can recruit another highly-rated class to add to his talent and dominate college basketball for at least the next 2-3 years. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t mind freshman from all over the country staying in school longer. College basketball as whole would be better overall product to watch again (a la the 80s, 90s, and early 00s). Additionally, players would also have MORE time to improve their games, and thus would be better prepared for the NBA, and the 'Association' would be a better product as well (not that is isn’t already awesome). 

Could you imagine if all the players from the Kentucky/Duke/UNC/Kansas/UCLA/Syracuse/Texas teams stayed together for 3-4 years? Geesh! And I'm only referring to the past 3-5 years of players. I’m smiling like a kid in a candy store just thinking about it (I know, I know. That was pretty cliche). But as I said earlier, I’m a bit conflicted on that because of the NCAA’s greed.

In closing, I don’t want to be the person that discourages anyone from pursuing their dreams. If you believe in something, go for it. But at the same time, you also have to know when it’s your time to make certain leaps.

For Giles, I simply don’t believe now is the time. The NBA has been around for 70 years. The league and all the money that comes with it isn’t going anywhere 'younin'. You can afford to wait at least another year (or two).

Here's hoping that Giles gets drafted, is properly developed with the right coaching, stays healthy and has a long, successful NBA career filled with championships and all-star game appearances. I'm rooting for you.