Kobe [Bryant] had the biggest contract for a high school kid. He was the first one to get more than a million a year.

What would have happened if Derrick Rose had torn his knee in college, or Greg Oden? It would have cost them millions of dollars. They were lucky, coming out early. I'm not saying don't go to college. There are plenty of players like Shaq [O'Neal] who went back and graduated. I commend that. But do it at your leisure - don't hurt your finances.

LeBron james came, and he gets $10 million a year. There was no stigma or blemish, like you have with one-and-done. Now people say, He's not a student, he's an athlete. Well, of course he's not a student! He's here for one year and he told you he's here for one year, and the school took him with open arms.

After the NBA and ABA merged, players could come out after high school. Still, there were only a few cases prior to Kevin Garnett coming out in 1995, so Nike and the other companies were only involved in the college game.

In terms of my work with Nike, obviously signing Michael Jordan to a $500,000 contract in 1984 set a new precedent for the business side of the game.

Very unfairly, there's a negative image of the kid, which really stems from the greed and selfishness of the NBA and NCAA. They're forcing these kids to go to school.

Paternalistic is a very good word. They think they have to look out for these guys? Don't worry about it. Why? Because of history. Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant. They did okay.

One-and-done is the most damaging thing in college basketball. It brings money into the college game, because it kickstarts the bidding war. When you know a kid can't turn pro and is going to go to school for one year and then go pro, that's when you see everyone going to games and courting players.

NBA has a selfish rationale. It saves the owners money by delaying the time a player gets to a second, more lucrative contract. Even the player's union is on board. There are only 450 jobs in the NBA, and the one-and-done protects veterans' jobs.

People will always go to games. And not just Duke versus North Carolina. Even Appalachian State against Chatworth.

Now the kids are portrayed as dirty when they talk to an agent, a shoe guy, some hanger-on. Well, it's only natural that people are circling them - there are millions of dollars involved.