Amari Bailey Charlotte Hornets
© Jim Dedmon/Imagn
In 2022-23, Amari Bailey played in 30 games for the UCLA Bruins before entering his name into the 2023 NBA Draft. The Charlotte Hornets selected Bailey No. 41 overall, and he played 10 games for the team as a rookie.
In theory, that should have put an end to Bailey’s college career. But in light of recent events that saw former G-League players Charles Bediako and James Nnaji ruled eligible to return to college basketball thanks to friendly courts, Bailey is deciding to press his luck.
On Friday, ESPN reported that Bailey intended to return to NCAA basketball. If he’s allowed to do so, he would become the first player in history to return to the NCAA ranks after playing in the NBA.
Many are crying foul. But Bailey’s lawyer, Elliot Abrams, doesn’t see it that way.
Amari Bailey’s Lawyer Says He’s Being Robbed Of An Education
The NCAA argues that Bailey ceded any remaining college eligibility when he opted to enter the NBA Draft and then played in NBA games. But Abrams feels that’s unfair.
“You’ve got a college-aged kid who wants to go to college, and you’ve got a system that says, ‘Too bad, you’ve gone to a different league so you’re out forever,'” said Elliot Abrams, Bailey’s attorney. “I don’t see any real justification for it.”
That is, of course, a generous interpretation of how things happened.
Bailey is welcome to go to college wherever he would like and is admitted. What he can’t do, however, is compete in varsity athletics. Whether you think that’s fair or not is up to you. But it’s an entirely separate argument from the one that Abrams is making.
Either way, if Bailey is ruled eligible in court and the NCAA doesn’t win an appeal, it could send the entire college sports ecosystem into an unsalvageable spiral.