None of us should be surprised that Jordan Farmar is leaving school early to go to the NBA. No UCLA fan should be mad at him for his decision or hold a grudge against him.
Even with Farmar gone, UCLA will still be strong next year. Most of the team that went to the championship game will be back. It’s unrealistic to expect the Bruins to return to the championship game next season. But then again, in this modern age of college basketball where players leave early, it’s unrealistic to expect any team to go to the championship game in back-to-back seasons.
Come November, key players from last season like Arron Afflalo, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Darren Collison, Lorenzo Mata and Michael Roll will all be one year older, wiser, stronger and better. Also, Josh Shipp comes back. Remember him? One of the key players on that 2004-2005 tournament team missed most of this past season, and he’ll be back. The Bruins will still be talented this season, very likely enough to make it to the NCAA Tournament again.
I’m glad Afflalo came back, not only because it makes UCLA better, but for his own sake as well. He wasn’t projected to go in the first round by many NBA draft experts, and being drafted in the second round often spells disaster for basketball players. First-round draft picks are guaranteed contracts. Second-round picks are not and often don’t make it on to an NBA roster. Every year, dozens of players leave school early and are either selected as second-round picks or not drafted at all. Afflalo was smart to come back and it’s good to know he won’t have the same fate as those players.
Farmar, meanwhile, will likely be drafted in the first round. The latest mock draft at nbadraft.net has Farmar at 17th overall to the Indiana Pacers. This would be great – a mid-level first-round pick as opposed to a late first-round pick. Other experts aren’t as generous, having Farmar later in the first round.
Either way, UCLA fans should remember Farmar as the great player who helped lead the Bruins back to national prominence, not as the player who left school early. Across the country, when a star player leaves an elite program early, fans have the tendency to hold a grudge against that player.
I’m asking Bruin fans not to do that. In two years, he helped the program immensely. And Farmar’s just doing what’s best for him. It’s highly unlikely that his value could be higher than it is now, after he just led a team to the championship game. And even if the Bruins go all the way next year, the experts say that the 2007 NBA Draft will be stocked with much more talent than this year’s draft, meaning that even if he improved at UCLA, he might have been in a worse position next year.
Besides, having a star player leave for the draft can be considered a good thing. It means a team was not only good, it means that the team has a strong coach and recruiter in Ben Howland – who will likely bring more great players to UCLA – many of whom will leave school early for the NBA. That’s what happens to elite programs, and UCLA is an elite program again.
UCLA fans should hope more great players like Farmar leave Westwood early. That means that they were great at UCLA, probably leading the Bruins to some great seasons.
E-mail Quiñonez at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu.