Letters: Are we all one-and-done with this?

“One and done,” the growing trend of young basketball players to spend only the obligatory year in college before moving on to the NBA, is a manifestation of a much broader societal phenomenon.

Loyalty to teams, cities, employers and constituencies has become passe, a corny vestige of a time when individuals did not think and act as if they were one-person franchises. Today, amateurs and professionals of every stripe are presumptively transient, bags never unpacked, offers entertained before names have been sewn to uniforms or name plates attached to doors.

If we are honest with ourselves, we no longer root for teams; we don’t really join or hire institutions whose reputations are one and the same with the people who work for them. What we do is root for and join and hire branded umbrellas beneath which flow an endless line of individuals moving on to the NBT — Next Better Thing.

Mark Steinberg

Los Angeles

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Ben Howland’s “solution” to the one-and-done problem [March 18] couldn’t be worse: “It has got to become a congressional issue where we make a law.” Just the mentality we need: If you can’t convince others voluntarily to do what you want, then get the government to point a gun at their heads.

Howland should stick to basketball, where he’s having enough problems.

Mike Berliner

Los Angeles

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2012-13 UCLA men’s basketball season in a nutshell: Can’t beat Cal Poly at home, but can beat Arizona in three different states.

Paul Jeong

Beaumont

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NCAA basketball tournament tip: I guarantee that the USC men’s basketball team will get through March Madness undefeated — sad but true.

Chris Gagliano

Rancho Palos Verdes

Not buying it

Phil Anschutz claims that he wants to be more involved in AEG’s sports businesses now that Tim Leiweke, his personal mouthpiece and uber-salesman, has moved on. I saw Anschutz only one time at a Kings game in the almost 20 years he has owned the team, and that was last June, when the Kings won the Stanley Cup. In all that time, I don’t recall hearing him comment about his team, or much of anything else.

How can he not desire to be more engaged, considering there is nowhere for his public level of commitment to go but up? I’d like to believe you, Phil, but based on your track record, Venus de Milo is more hands-on.

Andrea Lacker

Torrance

Thin is in

Now I understand Jim Buss’ strategy in hiring Mike D’Antoni to coach the Lakers this season. He is going to be in great shape next year when the new salary cap comes into play, as they will need only eight players on the roster. This short rotation of only ever playing eight is working so well ... until this veteran roster gets to back-to-back games, and their legs give out.

D’Antoni is so stubborn, not only will he refuse to change it up when it’s not working, but he has completely insulted the rest of his bench. He does not appear to care about that either; just look how easily he found it to completely insult Pau early in the season. It breaks my heart to say this but the Lakers are doomed as long as this guy is coaching.

Bruce Alan

Granada Hills

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The question this week was asked if the ball moves more when Kobe is not playing. That’s a ridiculous question! He’s one of the top three offensive players in the league. His style is to dribble around and find a weakness, then attack the defense. Or draw the defense in so he can pass to his teammates. It’s like asking if the Broncos pass more when Peyton Manning is playing.

Ask yourself this: Where would the Lakers be right now without Kobe? Movement is good when people are hitting shots. If you aren’t hitting shots it doesn’t matter how much ball movement there is. It’s all about style and what the other team gives you.

Norvell Fuller

Eagle Rock

What Baseball Classic?

Commenting on the success of the World Baseball Classic, Commissioner Bud Selig said, “Focusing on the U.S. team is, frankly, almost irrelevant.”

I’d go a step further and say the U.S. team and the tournament became irrelevant with the U.S. team’s dismal performance. Growing the popularity of the sport worldwide might be good for baseball (read: baseball ownership), as the commissioner claims, but would someone please explain what that does for the U.S. fans who support the game? As far as relevance goes, the last thing the game needs is two weeks of irrelevant exhibition games, many of which were about as exciting as watching the grass grow.

D.G. Artis

Woodland Hills

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The Dominican Republic’s undefeated run through the World Baseball Classic was impressive. It would, however, require sending out a search party to find someone who cares.

Bud Chapman

Northridge

Passing fancy

So the NFL had a field day at its annual meeting in Phoenix by banning top-of-the-helmet blows and peel-back blocks, banning defensive lines from overloading on field goals and extra points, and doing away with the so-called “tuck rule.” What’s next: Assault weapons?

Dan Anzel

Los Angeles

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This week, in a matter-of-fact manner, the NFL got rid of the “tuck rule.” The requisite number of years have passed, and now it is OK remove a strange rule that never should have been instituted in the first place. Would the NFL keep a bizarre, unnecessary regulation intact for years, in order to help keep up appearances, in order to try to show that the rule was not a mistake? Yes, it is my contention that that is precisely what happened.

Mason Malugeon

Huntington Beach

Ice time

Kudos to the Ducks for signing Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry to contract extensions and looking like solid Stanley Cup contenders.

Kudos to the Kings for playing like the Stanley Cup champions they are. This could be the greatest 48-game NHL season ever.

Ron Reeve

Glendora

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It has become commonplace for the notoriously secretive NHL to reference vague upper-body injuries and lower-body injuries. Imagine my surprise when Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau recently said that Nick Bonino was out due to flu. How long before even this description reveals too much and it becomes an “inner-body” injury?

Alex Thapar

Culver City

Ski you later

It is no coincidence that Tiger is dating Lindsey Vonn: His game has been going downhill for years!

Mark S. Roth

Los Angeles

Knee-jerk reactions

News release from Andrew Bynum’s agent: “Andrew will be having season-ending surgery on both knees. He looks forward to next year and his return to the PBA.”

Paul Feinsinger

Agoura Hills

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Andrew Bynum has finally realized his potential and his wildest aspirations: a handicapped-parking sticker!

Jack Walker

Santa Monica

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