Emmanuel Mudiay, the projected 2015 lottery pick who decided to back out of his commitment to SMU and instead sign a million dollar contract in China, made his professional debut on Saturday for Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association. The 6'5 guard scored 18 points on 5-of-16 shooting, while also recording five rebounds and two assists in the Tigers' 103-89 win over Stephon Marbury's Beijing Ducks, the league's defending champs.
Emmanuel Mudiay scores 18 points in Chinese Basketball Association debut
The former top prospect and SMU recruit led the Guangdong Southern Tigers to a win over Stephon Marbury and the defending champion Beijing Ducks.
Jonathan Daniel
You can check out some of his his highlights from the game here:
Mudiay, who was considered the best guard in the class of 2014 and currently projects as the No. 2 pick in Draft Express’ 2015 mock draft, announced in July that he’d be skipping college in order to get paid. “I was tired of seeing my mom struggle,” Mudiay said in a statement at the time explaining his decision. About two weeks after that, he signed a one-year, $1.2 million deal with the Tigers.
Finding himself right in the middle of all this is Larry Brown, the Hall of Fame coach entering his third season at SMU. On Wednesday, Brown was asked to share his thoughts on a player -- one who was supposed to be playing for him -- choosing a salary over a year of college. Here’s what he said, via USA Today.
“I think it will get worse,” Brown said Wednesday. “If he’s as good as I know he is and he’s the first, second or third pick in the draft -- which I’m pretty confident he will be -- I’m worried that a lot of kids will think about it. ... They won’t think of so many kids that have come out early and are not playing anymore.”
Brown elaborated on his thoughts:
“I hear about him every day. I’m so excited for him. I’m not excited for the precedent it might set. You’ve got to recognize a lot of kids, when they have the opportunity to help their families, it’s tough to pass up. But it’s not a good message for young people, and hopefully the NBA will address it.”
Of course, one could argue that spending a year playing professional basketball in a place like China is more beneficial for kids than pretending to be student athletes for a couple of semesters. Either way, this is where we are now. Brown is at SMU, still coaching a good team, and Mudiay is in China, waiting a year to enter the NBA.
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