“Gone are the Days of The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar”: Skip Bayless Trashes the NCAA Over March Madness Issues

This year’s March Madness has Skip Bayless reminiscing about the good old days. On the recent episode of The Skip Bayless Show, he talked about the ongoing NCAA tournament and some of the predominant aspects of the evolving college game. While describing the current March Madness scene, Bayless brought up the days when the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Bill Walton used to be the face of college ball.

Bayless highlighted that currently the NCAA is stacked with dozens of quality players, who are good enough to impact the game when the right opportunity comes around. They’ll need just one big moment to make their mark. The FS1 host added, “Gone are the days of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or the Bill Walton or the Magic Johnson, just dominating the NCAA tournament the way they are about to dominate the NBA.” 

Bayless also highlighted some of the issues with the tournament this year. He said that the best teams are being forced to play at odd times, with underqualified referees and in difficult places. This has lead to a number of issues that the NCAA has faced this year.

.@RealSkipBayless reveals his Final Four picks for March Madness: pic.twitter.com/ETzYhXJnp3

— The Skip Bayless Show (@SkipBaylessShow) March 21, 2024

The veteran journalist added, “Games barely last two hours, they’re over before you know it. Players only get five fouls and invariably the best players are in early foul trouble. And that three-point line is significantly, outrageously closer than the NBA’s.”

Bayless further said that these things would end up affecting the quality of not only the games, but also the players who are participating in this tournament with the ultimate goal of playing in the NBA one day. Despite his issues with the tournament structure, the 72-year-old unveiled his final four picks for March Madness in the men’s game, Saint Mary’s, Purdue Boilermakers, Iowa State, and Houston.

2024 NBA Mock Draft

With the big draft night approaching, the Mock Drafts have become the point of attraction for basketball fans. In a recently released list by Bleacher Report, Alex Sarr of the Perth Wildcats is touted to be the number one draft pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Two players from the Kentucky basketball team have made the top five, flipping the previous mock draft script. Rob Dillingham has risen above to the number two spot whereas Reed Sheppard has maintained his third position. The two players are expected to be drafted by the Detroit Pistons and the San Antonio Spurs respectively.

The other two players in the top five are Zaccharie Risacher of the JL Bourg-en-Bresse, and Cody Williams of Colorado. As the NCAA tournament progresses, the players rankings are bound to change based on their recent performances. As for the predictions to win the tournament, ESPN Bet suggests that UConn and Houston are the favorites among the lot in the men’s game.