The NBA’s new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) could add some much needed changes to incoming player’s eligibility requirements. Since 2005, players with NBA Hoop Dreams must be 19 years old by the end of that calendar year’s draft and one year removed from high school to be eligible. A new rule change being floated around would add a year to those requirements; two years removed from high school and 20 years of age by the end of that year’s NBA draft.
The possible new rule change is upsetting parents and players currently in high school (It’s all about the Benjamin’s). Opposition to the current rule cites that it is unfair for an individual that feels they are NBA ready to be banned from playing due to age restrictions. They list current NBA stars to support their cause: LeBron James, Amare Stoudemire, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, etc… as players that went straight from high school to the pros and made an immediate impact in the NBA.
Advocates for the new rule agree that LeBron James and company did make an immediate impact in the NBA even though they skipped the college ranks, but they are the rare exceptions to the NBA dream. Fewer and fewer college players make NBA rosters each year much less under developed high school talent. The addition of European players being drafted closes that window even more for speculative high school players. FYI, the NBA draft only has two rounds and teams have a total of 15 roster spots each season.
The new provisions can help these children and their families more than they realize by allowing their children to get a college education thus having a better chance to provide for their families over their earning careers. Furthermore, the time in college allows them to mature both physically and mentally before becoming instant millionaires with international fame.
There are two interesting sides to this issue. College is about setting up an individual for success later in life. Who’s to say how long that time should be for each individual? At the same time, high school players and their parents need a dose of reality. Yes their child is talented. Yes their child could make a NBA roster and possibly bring much needed money to their family. If that child is that talented now, in two years he will still be talented with a much better chance of making a NBA team (see Corey Brewer, Univ. of Florida
The final ruling should come from the NBA owners as they write the checks for their player’s salaries; just to clarify, two thirds of the NBA owners support this new rule change. Those owners should continue to listen to their fans as their fans are the reason owners have a profitable NBA team to operate. In an extremely scientific “Just to Clarify” poll (not worth questioning… ever), 98% polled thinks the new rule should be adopted (take that Gallop), and I couldn’t agree more.
I hope all of these kids are able to follow their dreams into the NBA and make millions of dollars. I also hope these kids get a couple of years in college basketball and learn more about life than just “hardwood lessons”. The NBA product is watered down which leads to a watered down NCAA college basketball product. How many times did you have this conversation with your buddies, “Imagine if LeBron was in college, he would be a senior this year. No telling what he would do at this level.”
If that old story doesn’t work for you, imagine if Derrick Rose was still in college. He would’ve been a junior this past season (NCAA rule violations aside). Rose appears to be a lock for the Most Valuable Player award in the NBA this year. Take his counterpart under Coach John Calipari, John Wall. He’s in his second NBA season and struggling some in the NBA. Rose is the exception, Wall is the rule.
To satisfy both parties maybe the NBA should adopt Major League Baseball’s eligibility requirements? MLB’s requirements allow players to go pro once they have completed high school. Should a player not get drafted or choose to go to college, they can go into the college ranks but cannot come out of amateur status until the end of their junior year of college. This would put the onus on the NBA to STOP drafting high school players based on projected talent and start drafting based on proven ability.
Just to clarify, I will welcome the new rule and look forward to seeing the positive changes that it brings as "two and done" will be better than "one and done". Being able to have a vested interest in different pro players due to the colleges they attended, watching them develop as a player in the college ranks, and remembering the impact they made in the NCAA tournament will help the watered down version of both the NBA and college basketball. The one negative this may bring... you can say goodbye to the VCU's and Butler's of March Madness.
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