I'm a cynic by nature, a hardened skeptic, thanks to the job.
If you claim it's raining, I'll peek out the window before grabbing an umbrella. If you tell me beers cost $6, I'll glance at the menu on the way out just to make sure I wasn't getting screwed. My wife once told me she was pregnant, but I refused to believe her until I confirmed the news with a third party (i.e., a doctor). Until that point I assumed she was just messing with me because I assume everybody is lying until I know they're not.
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| But Julian, you said you were going to stay in school. (Getty Images) |
But I still believed Julian Wright.
He told me he'd spend next season at Kansas, and I believed him. I knew better than to believe him, and I didn't want to believe him. But Bill Self told me to believe him, that if I talked to him I'd believe him. So I talked to Wright, and Self was right. I believed him. So much, in fact, that I wrote a column last July lauding Wright for representing everything that was good and proper about the American basketball player.
And guess what now?
Wright is entering the NBA Draft. Two weeks ago he was "100 percent sure" he would not enter the NBA Draft. But at a Monday press conference he stated he would indeed enter the NBA Draft.
Meaning I'm 100 percent sure I'll never again trust another talented underclassman.
Never. Ever. As long as I live.
I won't get fooled again.
(Credit Pete Townsend with that last line.)
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To be clear, I don't blame Wright. He's a projected lottery pick set to make millions of dollars. If you're asking, yes, I'd leave school early too. But the problem with Wright is that he's gone out of his way for more than eight months to reject any notion that he'd turn pro after his sophomore season. So while it's perfectly reasonable for him to enter the NBA Draft, it's difficult to comprehend the sudden change in position because it's not like Wright's reputation among scouts has been enhanced in the past two weeks or even year.
Eight months ago, he was a projected lottery pick. Now, he's a projected lottery pick.
So what's the difference?
Reality, that's what.
And it's why I don't believe Greg Oden is returning to school either. Or Kevin Durant. Or Brandan Wright. Or Jeff Green. Or even Mike Conley Jr.
Going forward, I'll believe any projected top 20 pick isn't going to be in the draft when the deadline passes and his name isn't on the list, and not a second sooner.
I've never encountered a more believable player than Wright, and if we can't trust him we can no longer trust anybody because the reality is when these kids -- and most of them are just that, kids -- talk about loving the college life their futures have usually not yet been detailed in real-world terms, leaving them to make uneducated promises destined to be broken.
See, I don't doubt Wright enjoys school and would like to return to Kansas. But at some point over the past two weeks somebody has sat down Wright and his family and shown them exactly what they'd be turning away. If Wright is the fifth pick his rookie salary would be about $2.4 million. If he's the 10th pick it would be around $1.6 million. Both numbers would increase in the second year, and every penny would be guaranteed.
Beyond that, there's a certain shoe deal that would bring additional cash. I'm sure somebody also mentioned that to Wright. Then that same person probably showed him a clip of Shaun Livingston tearing everything in his knee on a fast break in February spliced with Wright falling awkwardly during a breakaway in the same month.
Next thing you know, Wright's desires for school were evaporating, just like his ability to be taken at his word.
So I'm sorry, Greg Oden. And I apologize, Kevin Durant.
I'd like to think there's a real shot that both of you will be back in school next season because it is a joy to watch you both play at the collegiate level. But Julian Wright has burned me for the last time and, in turn, taught me a valuable lesson about how it's practically impossible to believe anything coming out of a future millionaire's mouth.
I won't get fooled again.
