Many people may not agree with Andre Iguodala’s most recent take on NIL deals being offered to young players in schools and colleges. Iguodala made an argument about how NIL deals hamper a player’s willingness to fully mature his game before coming into the league. And while a big chunk of the fanbase may not see eye to eye with Iggy, the four-time NBA champion does seem to have the support of Kevin Garnett.
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Andre Iguodala’s recent appearance on the 7PM in Brooklyn With Carmelo Anthony podcast had a segment where they discussed what was wrong with NIL deals. And this is what Iggy had to say.
“The NIL deal is destroying the entire pipeline of the American youth development. Because kids are getting paid before they actually mature in their talent. So they don’t get disciplined because they don’t understand the long-term games. The NIL has messed it up. There’s no accountability, there’s no adversity. And adversity is the thing that separates everybody. It’s just like, who got the will to work the hardest? We just messed up the ecosystem and we gotta really get back to developing our youth to be fundamentally sound.”
Andre Iguodala emphasized how players would work hard and put their skill-set together to make it to the league back in the day. Players mastered their fundamentals of team basketball while also maturing mentally by the time they got to the league.
But NIL deals are already allowing 15-16-year-olds to make millions before coming into the league. And if a teenager is already making such a big amount, it only hampers their willingness to grow as a player.
Iguodala’s take may have offended some fans in the comments section, but it did grab the attention of Minnesota Timberwolves legend, Kevin Garnett. KG uploaded the clip on his official Instagram Stories.
KG on Iggy's NIL take pic.twitter.com/kwnHCkquez
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) June 30, 2024
Now, The Big Ticket sharing Iggy’s take on NIL deals might indicate his agreement with what he had to say. Or it could also be a way of Garnett trying to shine a light on something that might eventually affect the NBA soon.
Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce gave their takes on NIL deals
Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce had once gotten into the pros and cons of NIL deals and the effect it had on young kids. Pierce started by mentioning how he would’ve had a great time if someone had handed him that type of money back in the day.
Pierce stated how he used to work out his weekly expenses on just $100. While more money back then would’ve greatly benefitted Pierce, it is also possible that the very same adversity of spending a week with just $100 is what led him to work on his game to be NBA-ready and make it big in the league.
Whereas Kevin Garnett saw both sides of the coin. He was happy that young kids were getting appreciated for the talent they had at such a young age. The only problem that brought was rookies coming into the league with a certain ego.
“NIL is great for young kids being able to take advantage and tap into the value that they have early in your life…It’s when you become uncoachable, it’s when you have ego, it’s when you don’t wanna grow no more as a player.”
Garnett made the same argument three months ago before Iguodala shed light on it once again during his recent podcast appearance. While NIL deals do help young kids support their families from an early age, they also tend to have a negative effect as well.
