College coaches preach the long road to success. I believe there are stages you go through to get there. To me, that gets lost in this thing. But if you want to be really good at it, that means you learn. You learn about yourself, you mature, you learn about the game, you learn about people.
People do it in law, medicine.
You don't skip steps. But that is not a theory of development that is in vogue right now among the players and their factions. Because of the NBA salary structure that locks players into pay slots for three seasons, get in as soon as possible and getting the clock ticking to the free agent contract that can bring the big, big money. The concept that a player should strive to make the first round to make the bigger bucks in the end is no longer carrying weight. If a player's body is going to break down at 30, then getting in at 18 means a 12-year career, nine of which are for bigger money.