Is LeBron Right About the NCAA?

LeBron James is not holding back his punches now that he has given his views on the current NCAA investigation.

In recent days, even weeks, college basketball has fallen under scrutiny due to an FBI investigation that is alleging a massive corruption scandal involving many college basketball schools. This grew so big enough that LeBron James decided to weigh in on the scandal with his thoughts, saying, "The NCAA is corrupt, we know that. Sorry, it's going to make headlines, but it's corrupt."

The Cavaliers star has been very outspoken on issues far-ranging and most of the times, he's saying stuff that whether or not it's true, he needs to be listened to. He has said that the NBA should continue to develop its G-League and that it should be considered an alternative to college basketball. Before many players play professionally, they usually spend a couple years developing skills at that level, and I believe that the NBA, for far too long, has not been able to develop much like other leagues should.

James went further about the NCAA investigation, believing that the system won't be fixed and didn't see how it can be fixed, considering that the corruption, as he puts it, has gone on for years.

For a while, we have had debates about whether or not players should go straight from high school to the big leagues, much like LeBron and Kobe Bryant did when they came out of high school, and I think this particular investigation is one of many reasons why LeBron chose not to go to college in the first place. Not only what happened to these schools, but players can't benefit financially, which means if they earn a little bit of money off their likeness, it gives schools a reason to investigate them or even the coach, and that's not right.

LeBron's comments, right or wrong, is nothing new, because many of us felt for a while that the NCAA was corrupt and wasn't allowing players to have any sort of benefit whatsoever, whether it's money or something else. I think this investigation is going to have high school players revisit their options to enter college. Many may actually head straight to the pros out of high school, because they need to make money and if they can't get that in college, they'll go straight to the league. It also may be one of the reasons why LaVar Ball pulled his son LiAngelo out of UCLA, though it's definitely not the main reason. However, the NCAA definitely has a problem and I think they need to allow players to make money off their likeness, because at this point, they're not allowing people to benefit from playing basketball. Some of them are going to be professional players, and they need to help their own family benefit as well. Money is the only way you can do that.

LeBron did the smart thing at the time, going straight from high school to the pros. He was the best basketball player and didn't need to go to college, but he also understood the cloud that hovers over the NCAA on stuff like this. He didn't want to be in the middle of it, and that's a very smart move. Kobe probably didn't want to either. These are very smart people who understand that playing college basketball means you could be at risk for investigations like these. His comments may or may not be right, but either way, it's worth listening to and it's worth understanding that college basketball has a problem and LeBron knows that.