A dilly of a pickle

By Michael Beasley
Droopy-Eyed Basketball Wonder

Let’s be honest with ourselves. I’m pretty awesome at basketball.

I’ve been lucky, I guess. Blessed with people who have pushed me in life and blessed with natural gifts. I have a big decision to make: Whether to go pro or stay in college for another year at Kansas State. I gotta tell you, it’s a really tough call.

I know a lot of people think I’m going to be the top pick in the NBA Draft and make millions of dollars, but I have to think about the big picture. Education is really important to me, and it’s something the coaches who recruited me really sold me on. Kansas State has some incredible programs, and you can’t put a price tag on a degree. Not even a really big, eye-popping price tag.

Sure, I’ll be playing with against lesser competition, risking injury and thus a lot of money, and probably not even getting the same TV time I would if I were in the NBA, but there are a lot of intangibles that people don’t understand.

If I stayed in college, I could eat Ramen noodles with my friends at 2:30 a.m. while watching re-runs of The Simpsons. That’s priceless, man, and most people get to enjoy four years of that stuff. For me, it would just be one. Plus there’s getting up at 8 a.m. (sometimes – haha, even I miss a seminar or two) and walking to class. You don’t even need a car to get around, because everything is so close. It’s the perfect life. Man, those communists had it good. I learned about them in Prof. Hillman’s history class.

Water gun fights on the weekends? Playing sandlot baseball in an open field by the dorms? Man, that’s awesome stuff. Sure, playing basketball before thousands of people calling your name in an arena and earning endorsement deals has its appeal. But it doesn’t have the heart, ya know?

I always tell myself I’d never be that guy who should declare for the NBA Draft, but takes forever for no good reason, and then declares anyway. But now that I’m at this crossroads in life, it’s just not that easy of a decision.

Yeah, I had a nice year in college and I’ll probably be OK when I get to the pros. But there will be a learning curve – and maybe I’d just rather spend my formative years learning about philosophy and how to be a good leader and friend, instead of how to slam dunk between three 7-foot-2 guys.

Nah, fuck it. I’m going pro. Who’s ready for the Bease?