Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Game-changing, decorated veteran basketball player Ed O'Bannon digs deep into his championship college and pro career; his radical act to bring a watershed, winning legal case against the Goliath that is the NCAA; and the most recent wave of criminal charges handed down in the name of NCAA "amateurism"Ed O'Bannon was a star basketball player in high school before playing as a power forward for the UCLA Bruins in the NCAA, winning the championship in 1995. He went pro and spent two seasons with the New Jersey Nets before building a career playing internationally. During his NCAA years, he and his fellow players were well-aware of the huge profits they were bringing in to the NCAA, while struggling themselves. In college, they were required to work at their game as if it were a full time job, and forced to tailor their coursework and chances at a real education around the demands of their sport. In addition, they could have their scholarships -- and their ability to attend school -- stripped without cause. College athletics are supposed to be a way forward for a lot of kids, especially minority students, but only a fraction actually go on to pro careers, and the rest will find themselves straining into a future despite having brought glory -- and substantial income --to the NCAA.
In 2009, long into retirement and a successful civilian career, O'Bannon thought he'd made peace with it all. But at a friend's house, he saw a video game called 2009 NCAA March Madness and realized the kid wielding the controller was playing an avatar of him. O'Bannon's likeness, his achievements, his style as a player on the "UCLA Bruins 94-95 team" --- everything about him and his teammates but their actual names were right there making money for the NCAA still. So, when he was approached by a group that wanted to help students today by fighting the system, he quickly agreed to be the face of it.
The court case, which became a class action suit, was just the beginning.
Synopsis
"Like Curt Flood and Oscar Robertson, who paved the way for free agency in sports, Ed O'Bannon decided there was a principle at stake... O'Bannon gave the movement to reform college sports...passion and purpose, animated by righteous indignation." --Jeremy Schaap, ESPN journalist and New York Times bestselling author In 2009, Ed O'Bannon, once a star for the 1995 NCAA Champion UCLA Bruins and a first-round NBA draft pick, thought he'd made peace with the NCAA's exploitive system of "amateurism." College athletes generated huge profits, yet--training nearly full-time, forced to tailor coursework around sports, often pawns in corrupt investigations--they saw little from those riches other than revocable scholarships and miniscule chances of going pro. Still, that was all in O'Bannon's past...until he saw the video game NCAA Basketball 09. As avatars of their college selves---their likenesses, achievements, and playing styles--O'Bannon and his teammates were still making money for the NCAA. So, when asked to fight the system for players past, present, and future--and seeking no personal financial reward, but rather the chance to make college sports more fair--he agreed to be the face of what became a landmark class-action lawsuit.
Court Justice brings readers to the front lines of a critical battle in the long fight for players' rights while also offering O'Bannon's unique perspective on today's NCAA recruiting scandals. From the basketball court to the court of law facing NCAA executives, athletic directors, and "expert" witnesses; and finally to his innovative ideas for reform, O'Bannon breaks down history's most important victory yet against the inequitable model of multi-billion-dollar "amateur" sports.