By Andrew Johnson
LocalSportsJournal.com
The annual NBA Draft has come and gone, but it was one the Muskegon area won’t soon forget with former Big Red Deyonta Davis being drafted in the second round by the Memphis Grizzlies.
Before the draft, Davis was projected to be a top 14 pick by most mock drafts and at worst in the late teens. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas had David ranked as the tenth best prospect before the draft began in Brooklyn
.
With Davis slipping to the second round Thursday night, some felt validated in their opinion that Davis should have returned to Michigan State and Coach Tom Izzo for his sophomore season.
It’d be easy in hindsight to say that Davis make a mistake by leaving Michigan State after one season, but that isn’t the case if you look at the surroundings of his decision.
While I don’t know Davis personally, as a college student with just a few bucks in my pocket, I feel like I can relate to him.
Davis likely felt that he had an opportunity to not only chase his dream of being an NBA player, but an opportunity to be paid millions of dollars to play a game he loves.
That isn’t the kind of money that most people make at their jobs – it’s life-changing money. When Davis had the chance to make that sort of living for himself, he had to take it.
By choosing to return to Michigan State, Davis could have put his future in jeopardy by risking injury. If you need an example of how quickly a basketball career can change due to injury, look at the recently- traded former MVP Derrick Rose.
While some people will argue Davis should have stayed and finished his education at MSU, they ignore that the NBA will educate Davis with a mandatory rookie transition program.
According to Jon Krawczynski of NBA.com, the program covers “everything from managing one’s image to nutrition, all the way down to driving safely.”
While we’ll never know if Davis would have improved his stock with another year at Michigan State, we do know a few facts:
Davis will get a chance to be an NBA player with the Memphis Grizzlies.
He will have the chance to make money that can change not only his life, but his family’s life.
He’ll also likely be mentored and trained by former Spartan Zack Randolph, who has played the last seven years in Memphis while completely cleaning up his image problems.
So before you decide that Davis slipping in the draft was an obvious sign he should have stayed at Michigan State, realize that life changing opportunities don’t come every day – Davis had to jump towards his while he had the chance.
Not a polished writer yet, but you’re getting there. It was a good article.
However, if you can’t take an extra second to look over and edit your mistakes, then you’re not ready to be a professional journalist.
Example: “It’d be easy in hindsight to say that Davis make a mistake…”
I’m sure you realize that it should have been “made a mistake” and not “make a mistake.”
Just a flow issue that causes a reader to stop and think, “was that an error? Did I read that right?”
It halts the flow of th article when readers have to do that.
Keep up the hard work and EDIT before you submit the article for publication regardless of whether it’s a miniscule online blog or a major newspaper or magazine article. Getting work out there is the important thing, but making it look flawless with an easy flow is even better. Shows professionalism.
You only had a few minor errors in the article, so it definitely was good work.
Just giving my two cents as an aspiring writer who had many opportunities and never fully grabbed onto one. Mine was a dedication issue more than a technical one. I didn’t devote myself to the journalism, I focused on writing short stories and working on a novel that still isn’t complete. I’m a perfectionist with my writing, so it’s impossible to finish the “large thing.” Hopefully that will change very soon. I’m ready to work.
If you know of an opening at your publication, please consider passing my name along.
Thank you, and have a great night.
–Kyle M. Thomas
(231)736.5678