The NIL era is booming + I wish KD had bought Twitter instead of Elon
The 2022 Champions deserve everything we can give to them. Still, it was somewhat surprising to see just how well the Barnstorming tour is doing:
And they have SIX more stops. That’s awesome. The KU administration is going to be dining out on this title for at least a decade, and it is worth celebrating the fact that the players get at least some of that financial reward. The Wichita barnstorming event will probably be the biggest one—that line was insane, it looked like a line for Pearl Jam tickets at Oak Park Mall circa 1994—but by the end of the tour that’s gonna amount to quite a large stack, and I’m not even sure that number includes whatever memorabilia players are selling for cash while they’re at the tour stop. They deserve every penny, probably even more!
KU basketball is positioning itself to win in the NIL era, which is a necessary development to keep the program right where that is. More info on that strategy is forthcoming, and yesterday 6th Man Strategies cofounder Ryan Baty elaborated a little more about his gameplan, which includes making all NIL contributions tax-deductible. As KU Woj notes, KU seems to be waiting to announce these plans, and that timing is probably intentional with the probability of an NCAA penalty hanging in the air.
In the meantime, we’re definitely seeing some big money fly around—like KSU combo guard Nijel Pack getting $800k1 from whatever LifeWallet is as he goes over to Miami—as well as NCAA coaching legends like Jay Wright2 bow out of the landscape. Much has been made of the fact that three blue-blood coaches have hung it up in the last 18 months, which is certainly not a coincidence but I also think we could be reading into that a little too much.
Still, I was interested/surprised to see Self’s critical comments about the NIL.
Here’s a little more context + transcript on these comments. Self does a lot of hedging here, as his answer is sprinkled with asides like “We’re still getting our arms around it” and “I’m not saying it’s bad!” Nothing Self says is by accident; his comments always reflect a studied knowledge of the tensions at work, and all of the context he includes is therefore more meaningful.
Still, two things stick out at me. Self is a champion of athletes and their families getting compensated—he is on the right side of history there! The one thing that had me a little “Ehhhhh” is the notion that kids seeking opportunity need to stick it out through tough times.
The concept of “adversity” here is used broadly, so I won’t poke holes in that for now3. Even within the larger scope of Self’s comments, his sentiment feels old-fashioned; Self has been the first person to point out that coaches are allowed freedom of movement, so why shouldn’t players be afforded the same choice? Would Self advise other coaches to work through the same sorts of pressures? I am suspicious of this dynamic, but I also think it’s clear that Self is still working through it himself.
A more positive read on the situation: I think Self is (at least partially) addressing the idea of player development, not player movement. There’s not much data yet, since the portal is so new, but one could imagine that hopping around from program to program could be stunting in some way. This is all new territory, and I’m not expecting perfection. But I think it’s an important thing to keep tabs on as it evolves throughout the first full offseason with the NIL in place.
IT’S DUSTY IN HERE!
The only note I have here is that this is impossible to read, but once you get past that… wow. What a guy! The fact that he went back to the mat here after his touching and good NBA Draft announcement is such an unexpected bonus for KU diehards. I love that he went back to this vibe, and that there was more to say. That Maui story!!!!!! Damn.
KD going icon
”I hope it brings u to a revelation that you can live with gang”
My party line is that KD is the only good Twitter user left. He’s not trawling for engagement, hunting for likes, posting on an algorithm-friendly schedule. He’s getting online at the very moment his haters are the most riled up, and going through, one-by-one, smiting them with uniquely brutal one-liners like the one above. “I appreciate your well wishes,” honestly there are so many to choose from4. His methodology for selecting the tweets is a mystery, and might even be random. There’s a magic to it.
Yes, one could argue that KD should be on a beach somewhere, hanging out with his money, all notifications silenced. That he’s not doing that is remarkable in its own way, but that’s never been his thing. He feeds off the pettiness like Colin Robinson the energy vampire. We are all but witnesses!
Elon Musk wants to make Twitter more open-source and less moderated blah blah blah, it’s hard to imagine Musk doing a worse job with Twitter than what Twitter is currently doing with itself. I’m not here to talk about Twitter. I’m here to talk about KD on Twitter, which is the only page on the whole website that makes me feel nostalgic for what the site used to be.
KD could have come up with $43 billion and bought Twitter. It would be better off if that was the reality as we buckle up for whatever the future of Musk Twitter is. I hope that this brings you a revelation you can live with, Streakers.
The NIL is patently Good for Athletes, but some of these contracts are so weird. Pack’s deal is … a 2-year deal? Does he have to park it in Miami? Also, what kind of car we talking? I would buy Remy Martin’s Camry, great mileage
I like these reports that Jay Wright would consider coaching the Lakers (it would definitely be the Lakers, let’s be real) instead of coach CBB during the NIL era… good luck with that!!!!!!
Even though it would be (checks notes) very easy!
The “who wants to look at graphs” tweet is a Mount Rushmore tweet for me, obviously