NBA Commissioner David Stern announced yesterday that the
'97 NBA Draft would be held at the Charlotte Coliseum on June 25,
1997 and again be televised on TNT (NBA).
YOUTH MOVEMENT: ESPN's "NBA Today" examined the phenomenon
of high school players entering the NBA. ESPN's Brett Haber:
"It's an unnatural setting for these athletes who are teenagers -
- lots and lots of money but not an ounce of the maturing and
academic experience known as college." Bulls coach Phil
Jackson: "We don't want them. People don't want to babysit 18
or 19-year-old kids." ESPN's Dick Vitale: "Some of them aren't
ready for the CBA never mind the NBA" (ESPN, 6/25). TNT's Peter
Vecsey: "Agents are telling them, `Hey, you could be an
unrestricted free agent after three years.' What they're
forgetting to tell them is, `You might be out of work also.'
You've got to prove yourself in those three years" ("Draft
Preview," TNT, 6/25).
NEW DREAM TEAMER: Multiple sources have Sonics guard Gary
Payton replacing the injured Glenn Robinson on Dream Team III
(Mult., 6/26).
