Too many athletes like Michael Beasley are forced to grow up too fast

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- At some point, we have to go back to allowing young people the opportunity to be kids, to mature and adjust at an appropriate pace.
Right now, they're crashing under the weight of expectations and adult-size responsibilities.
Michael Beasley always struck me as an overgrown kid who was asked to be a man long before he was ready.
His tale of depression and self-medication is quite common in professional athletics, where too many young men have been raised throughout their teens to play the role of father, husband and provider to an assortment of friends and family.
We don't know the details of what put Beasley, the Miami Heat's rookie forward and former Kansas State one-and-doner, in a rehabilitation center.
We have the "Supercool Beas" back-tattoo picture he tweeted that raised questions about whether there was a dime bag of weed in the background of the photo. And we also have Beasley's postpicture tweets he sent out complaining that the world was against him and that life isn't worth living.
The picture and the cryptic sound of the notes posted on Twitter do not tell a full story. They're just a tiny glimpse at a confused kid.
What I do know is that many of the filthy rich, seemingly world-by-the-tail athletes we envy are actually quite miserable. You would be, too, if you were in their position.
Even in a historic recession, money is not the key to happiness. For young people, money and the pursuit of it often creates far more problems than it solves. And the emotional crash from receiving wealth, material possessions and no happiness is overwhelming for a young person.
It's like a woman getting her dream boyfriend to finally marry her and realizing a year into the marriage the ceremony did nothing to slow his wandering, lustful eye. We wish for the wrong things.
We all want to be born with Michael Jordan's, John Elway's and Derek Jeter's physical gifts. A normal childhood and attentive parents are superior aspirations.
Your childhood, teen years and early 20s are meant to be spent relatively responsibility-free. No one is supposed to treat you like a potential lottery ticket, the key to relieving all the responsibility they acquired with bad decisions.
Beasley spent his teen years as a basketball prodigy, transferring from school to school in an attempt to stay eligible for a college scholarship and a quick exit to the NBA.
Grown men mentored Beasley and coached him in basketball partly out of genuine concern and partly because they knew there was a potential payday or job at the end of the rainbow.
You've seen me make this point before, but it's worth repeating: Money and fame have turned professional sports into the movie industry. The games are overrun with stage parents, manipulative agents, conniving coaches and exploitive owners.
Kids are in over their heads, particularly kids from one- or no-parent families. And now there's no longer a support-maturation process. There's no safety net.
God, I hate to sound old, but America needs to reinstitute the military draft. Eighteen-year-olds used to spend two to four years in a disciplined, supportive environment before being given the freedom to ruin their lives.
Great basketball players used to spend two to four years in college learning about the real world before being handed wealth and fame.
Kids used to be raised. Now they grow up. And in the process of growing up, they saddle themselves with baby mamas and a boatload of other responsibilities that ensure they'll be perfectly miserable once they achieve their lifelong dream.
I'm glad Beasley is taking a timeout and trying to figure things out. Many of his peers are skating along in denial that they need the help Beasley is receiving.