One and Done

He found himself in the news this week nonetheless thanks to a documentary on his journey to this point. Showtime will air One & Done on Friday. The 90-minute doc chronicles Simmons’ childhood in Melbourne, his family’s decision to send him to Montverde Academy near Orlando, his decision to attend LSU, and the run-up to the draft. But most notably, it reveals how absurd Simmons finds the NBA age minimum and the one-and-done system it has spawned.

Simmons and his family levy most of their scorn at the NCAA. Simmons notes several times how he is expected to treat playing basketball for LSU as a job while receiving no pay.

*That’s my job if I’m [in the NBA]. So don’t say I’m an amateur and make me take pictures and sign stuff,* Simmons says during a discussion with his family. *Go buy a No. 25 jersey. You’re going to put me on ESPN. You’re going to make hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars off one person. So I’m going off on the NCAA.*

He makes a poignant comment that, unless he can earn a degree in two semesters, going to class is *kind of pointless.* He is at LSU to make his case to become the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Attending an oceanography class instead of hitting the weights isn’t exactly a wise use of time. *I feel like I’m wasting time,* he says.

Eventually, the team decides to punish Simmons for ditching classes. (The breaking point is, ironically, a class on study habits.) This becomes a big media episode you may remember. Simmons keeps his anger at the farce off those media cameras, but reveals it for the documentary cameras.

*It really was a joke,* Simmons says. *It was a class about preparing for better study habits or skills. I’m going to the NBA next season. So why ******** if it’s not going to help me?*

The result of the film is the most powerful case against the age minimum we’ve seen in the decade of its existence.

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RedStickChick said:

Yeah, I want to watch it but as far as I know it's only on Showtime.

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