The ongoing FBI investigation into the world of college basketball continues to uncover interesting details. On Friday, a bombshell report emerged that paired names and dollar figures together and, in recent days, now-former USC guard became the first projected 2018 draft pick to declare his intention to turn pro after not being allowed to play at the college level this season.
While it isn’t a new concept to argue that colleges should simply compensate players in a legal way, more and more discussion is occurring coast to coast surrounding that central theme and, on Friday, Lakers guard Lonzo Ball provided his thoughts on the subject. Ball, who is fresh out of UCLA and immersed in non-basketball attention on a regular basis, spoke with reporters on Friday and indicated that he believes the NCAA “might as well” pay players in a legal way.
Lonzo Ball, should NCAA players be paid? “I do. All the money they generate for the programs & stuff, it’s kind of an unfair system…Everybody knows everybody’s getting paid & that’s how it is. Everybody’s getting paid anyway. You might as well make it legal. That’s how I feel."
— Shahan Ahmed (@shahanLA) February 23, 2018
He also insisted that he was not paid while at UCLA, saying “my dad’s not big on that,” per Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.
Ball is certainly in a position to know more about the current recruiting landscape than most, having recently gone through the process and holding relationships with many of the top prospects over the past two years. There are a number of notable parts to this particular quote but Ball’s assertion that “everybody knows everybody’s getting paid” is certainly something that will make the NCAA cringe, even if widely accepted as a reality in 2018.
Players will almost certainly continue to weigh in as the saga unfolds but Lonzo Ball said a few things that most are afraid to say on the record and he gets at the heart of what many currently believe.
