Andre Iguodala on why he supports college players getting paid through NIL: "The athlete was never a priority, there has always been a priority to exploit them"
NIL deals are becoming increasingly valuable for college players. Recently, AJ Dybantsa signed a record-breaking deal worth $7 million per season at BYU, which was the talk of every sports media outlet in the USA.
But while the NIL allows players to get paid for their work for college programs, it also puts a lot of pressure on the prospects—now, they are paid for what they do, and with money come expectations.
The case for paying college players: Iguodala's take on NIL revenue
In the recent episode of "Come and Talk 2 Me," Andre Iguodala spoke with Mark Jackson about the NIL deals and whether he thinks college players should be paid.
"I think kids should be paid," Iggy said immediately.
"Especially when you go through college, and you got $5 for the week to eat. And so, kids are for-profit entity. Bringing these college and institutions a lot of revenue," he added.
Andre explained how the players bring a lot of revenue to college and used Utah as the example of going bankrupt during the COVID-19 years due to the lack of sports being played. Iggy also illustrated how basketball is very different from some other sports like tennis, golf, and gymnastics because in those sports, "you're able to go pro at 12," and in the NBA, you have to go through college, which wasn't paid before the NIL deals.
Iguodala's solution: Trust funds and long-term financial planning
Still, the NIL deals also have some cons, and Iggy thinks we should be searching for solutions to these problems. One of the issues is mental preparation. As Andre said, the male brain doesn't fully develop during college years, and some ideas are still youthful, and getting money into all of that could lead to more trouble.
Players could be used by their parents or friends for instant profit rather than development, and that is why some of them could destroy their careers even before becoming pro players in the big league. Iguodala even brainstormed some ideas that could help new generations and set them up for success.
"So, you set the money aside, put it in an endowment form, you give them goals," he said. "If you get drafted, sign money's accessible. If you get your degree, the money is available to you. If you don't, you got to wait till 30, 35. It's like a trust. Like, we got to trust it up for our kids. It's pretty simple. And you're setting them up to be responsible adults."
Iggy is just one of the many players who think college players should be paid. But, the NIL deals are like a battlefield between players and coaches, who mostly disagree with them. Recently, Jim Larranaga retired from head coaching because he struggled to navigate this new college basketball era. It is definitely a considerable debate in today's college basketball.
