LeBron James says NCAA is 'corrupt,' plans to work with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to shore up 'farm system'

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James called the NCAA "corrupt" and compared it to the movie "Blue Chips," after the latest scandal involving impermissible benefits led to an FBI investigation and rocked college basketball over the weekend.

"I don't know if there's any fixing the NCAA," James said Tuesday morning at Cleveland Clinic Courts. "I don't think there is. It's what's been going on for many, many, many, many years, I don't know how you can fix it. I don't see how you can fix it. I don't know all the ins and outs about it. I don't know all the rules and regulations about it, but I do know what five-star athletes bring to a campus, both in basketball and football. I know how much these college coaches get paid. I know how much these colleges are gaining off these kids.

"I've always heard the narrative that they get a free education, but you guys are not bringing me on campus to get an education, you guys are bringing me on it to help you get to a Final Four or to a national championship...the NCAA is corrupt, we know that. Sorry, it's going to make headlines, but it's corrupt."

James didn't play college basketball, of course, going straight from St. Vincent-St. Mary High School to the first pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Still, he saw the underbelly of it all and even chuckled when asked about the craziest recruiting offer he received while a basketball prodigy.

"I can't even talk about that, man," he said. "Me and my mom was poor I'll tell you that and they expected me to step foot on a college campus and not to go to the NBA? We weren't going to be poor for long, I'll tell you that. That's a fact."

James is not a fan of the NCAA, but loves watching hoops, including March Madness. Two weeks ago, prior to the Cleveland Cavaliers' showdown against the Oklahoma City Thunder, James raved about Oklahoma freshman sensation Trae Young, who James has been watching since he was in eighth grade.

At that time, James said Young "better go pro" following this season so Young can start to benefit from playing basketball.

While James didn't go into too much detail about the best solution for the NCAA, he reveal plans for a sit down with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in the future, believing the one-and-done rule is worth discussing. He also hopes the G League can turn into a farm system like other sports.

"We have to kind of really figure that out, how we can do that. We've got a lot of kids, we're worried about kids coming into the league early but they're not ready, then out of the league because of that," James said. "I've kind of been brainstorming a lot, I don't want to tell you all because you'll steal my idea, then we're going to have some problems.

"But we have to figure out if a kid feels like at 16 or 17, he doesn't feel like the NCAA is for him or whatever the case may be, we have a system in place where we have a farm league where they can learn and be around the professionals, but not actually become a professional at that point in time. Not actually play in the NBA, but learn for a few years. Learn what the NBA life is about, learn what how to move and walk and talk and things of that nature, then in two years they're able to ... just like guys do overseas."

James brought up Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi, who started playing professional soccer at 13 in Barcelona. Earlier this season, James raved about rookie Cedi Osman's readiness, citing him playing professionally overseas for four years before making the leap to the NBA.

The NCAA is much different.

"I'm not a fan of how the kids don't benefit from none of this, so it's kind of a fine line," James said. "I've got a couple boys that could be headed in that direction so there's going to be some decisions that we as a family have to make, but I know as the NBA, we have to shore up our G League, continue to expand our G League and basically what it is, it's like our farm league in baseball."

James believes that begins with every team having their own G League team. Currently the G League, which was founded in 2001, features 26 teams, with an expansion to 27 planned for the 2018-19 season.

"We're getting there," he said. "I clap and commend what we're doing right now with that. We've had so many call-ups in the last 10 years and guys have actually been max guys, champions, people who are inspiring guys because they took that route. We've also had guys that went overseas and then came back into the G League and been a part of our league. So we're doing a great job, but we want to continue to get better and better.

"I've got a real good idea about this whole farm system thing, but I want to go over it with the commish and some of the people. That's a longer dialogue."

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