The NBA age limit should be abolished because players deserve the freedom to jump straight from high school to the pros if they so choose. If they are worthy of landing on an NBA roster based on talent they deserve an opportunity to make a living playing pro basketball as long as a team is willing to take a chance on them.
Quite frankly, I can’t believe a restriction exists in the first place. It has always reeked of age-discrimination and remains a cunning, devious way for commissioner David Stern to manipulate the college basketball marketing machine in his favor.
Who are we to prevent a human being from attempting the professional career of his/her choice if they are qualified?
I wanted to touch on this topic because the current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire this summer and a potential lockout is on the horizon if neither side compromises on this and a host of other issues.
YOU CAN VIEW THE CURRENT NBA CBA BY CLICKING ON THIS LINK
The NBA age restriction rule has been in place since the end of the 2005-06 season and requires a player to be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft as well as at least one year removed from his high school graduation class. In the aftermath of this CBA alteration a plethora of “one and done” players like Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, John Wall, Michael Beasley, Carmelo Anthony, and others have grudgingly attended one year of college before making the leap to the NBA.
Why did they attend college for that one season? To gain a quality education? To enhance their social skills? To join the latest fraternity?
Nope. They attended because it was required by the NBA and that’s a prett absurd reason, in my opinion.
Don’t believe me? Then why were fourteen freshmen chosen in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft?
They certainly didn’t earn a degree after that lone season.
According to ESPN,op the NBA Players Association is gearing up for a fight with the owners regarding the topic:
“We want to go back to the way it was,” a source from the National Basketball Players Association said. “The players have always been philosophically opposed to it. The vast majority of players feel a player should have the right to make a living. If he has the talent and wants to make money to help his family, he should have that right. It’s just a matter of principle.”
Soon after the age limit was established a distinguished group of college basketball icons including Bob Knight, Dick Vitale, Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, and more recently John Calipari spoke out against the limit as a negative influence in college basketball. It’s unfair to the players and it makes a mockery of the academic year. It even puts programs at risk of losing scholarships when early departures impact academic and graduation-rate statistics.
Unfortunately for the players union, commissioner David Stern has always desired to raise the minimum age to 20 rather than lower it and this battle promises to become one of many he and the union will face this coming summer in order to avoid a potential lockout.
Why does this rule even exist?
This isn’t about enhancing a players maturity in David Stern’s eyes. This age-restriction law is ultimately about controlling labor costs and his desire to use the vast college basketball landscape to market future stars.
Those sound like self-serving objectives, in my opinion.
I’ll admit that the track record of former players who made the jump isn’t unblemished. Between Jonathan Bender, Darius Miles, Kwame Brown, and the distinguished Robert Swift there are plenty of examples of players who simply couldn’t make it in the big leagues based on a variety of factors.
But the ones who have? Try Shawn Kemp, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Amare Stoudemire, Jermaine O’Neal, Monta Ellis, and Tracy McGrady, among others.
Not enough proof of players who have succeeded? How about adding Tyson Chandler, Al Harrington, and Andrew Bynum to the list.
For your reference here is every player in NBA history who skipped college and landed in the NBA. (Sources: Wikipedia and Basketball-Reference.com)
The first table is of NBA players were declared themselves for the NBA Draft and were selected. The second table is of players who were undrafted and skipped college.
NOTES:
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Moses Malone was drafted by the Utah Stars of the ABA in 1974
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Shawn Kemp signed up for a college semester but never played
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Brandon Jennings played one season in Europe
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NBA All-Stars have been designated in BOLD
**DRAFT **
PLAYER
**UNDRAFTED **
NBA DEBUT
1962
Reggie Harding
1946
Tony Kappen, Connie Simmons
1975
Darryl Dawkins, Bill Willoughby
1948
Joe Graboski
1995
Kevin Garnett
1976
Moses Malone
1996
**Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’Neal **
1989
Shawn Kemp
1997
Tracy McGrady
1992
Lloyd Daniels
1998
Al Harrington, Rashard Lewis, Korleone Young
1996
Thomas Hamilton
1999
Jonathan Bender, Leon Smith
2000
Stephen Jackson
2000
Darius Miles, DeShawn Stevenson, Kwame Brown, Tyson Chandler, Eddy Curry, DeSagana Diop
2005
Jackie Butler
2001
Ousmane Cisse
2009
Brandon Jennings
2002
Amare Stoudemire
2003
**LeBron James, Travis Outlaw, Ndudi Ebi, Kendrick Perkins, James Lang **
2004
**Dwight Howard, Shaun Livingston, Robert Swift, Sebastian Telfair, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, J.R. Smith, Dorell Wright **
2005
Martell Webster, Andrew Bynum, Gerald Green, C.J. Miles, Ricky Sanchez, Monta Ellis, Louis Williams, Andray Blatche, Amir Johnson
**NBA DEBUT **
**PLAYERS **
1946
Tony Kappen, Connie Simmons
1948
Joe Graboski
1976
Moses Malone
1989
Shawn Kemp
1992
Lloyd Daniels
1996
Thomas Hamilton
2000
Stephen Jackson
2005
Jackie Butler
2009
Brandon Jennings
There are some pretty decent names on that list, right? Not only are there 10 NBA All-Stars among that group but there are a bunch of role players and a few rising stars (Monta Ellis) surrounding them.
Now, I’m not suggesting that the transition from high school star to productive NBA player is an easy one, either mentally or physically. Typically it takes one or two years for even the greats to adjust to the different styles of play, monetary freedom and temptation, and the pure physical advantage many established veterans own over a young, still-growing man.
I’m just opposed to restricting one’s opportunity to make a living in the career of his/her choice if the opportunity exists.
So how can each party compromise in order to avoid a vicious showdown?
Why not establish the following: Enable players to enter the NBA directly from high school but if they choose to attend college they are locked in for three years, similar to the rule the MLB has in place.
That would enable college programs to recruit based on a player committing long-term and would allow high school prospects who think they have what it takes to declare themselves eligible for the draft.
If a player declares himself eligible and isn’t drafted that player would then be allowed to either head back to college that next semester or prepare for the next year’s NBA Draft on their own dime.
Plus, the NBA now has its own farm system - the D-League - that it can use to prepare players who need the extra seasoning for their rosters while getting them acclimated to NBA-style competition.
Let’s face it, folks - basketball is a profession and a pretty lucrative business these days. Forcing high school standouts to attend college and prevent them from utilizing their skills on the open market, as any job-seeking 18-year-old could do, seems rather archaic to me.
Many experts argue that the age limit should stay in place due to natural immaturity at such a young age and that an extra year of seasoning sometimes makes a big difference in the development of future stars. They also claim that NBA teams are at risk if they draft a player based on potential alone without seeing them perform in a more competitive atmosphere.
You know what? If you have those types of concerns then don’t draft that player!
As Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports stated in the midst of the infamous Derrick Rose SAT-scandal:
No one cared when Danica Patrick went pro as a race car driver at 16. No one tried to prevent Shawn Johnson from winning an Olympic gold at the same age or Miley Cyrus from making millions singing and acting with her dad even younger than that.
Let’s end all this chaos right now and remove the age limit in the next collective bargaining agreement, commissioner.
It never should have been established in the first place.
What are your thoughts on all this?* *
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