Another Look at the NBA’s Age Limit
By Jason Howerton
jh1662@txstate.edu
After Amare Stoudemire was the only player drafted out of high school in 2002, five high school players went to the pros in 2003. Then, eight high school seniors were selected in the first round in 2004, which also marked the third time in four years that a high school player was the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. If you recall, Kwame Brown, LeBron James and Dwight Howard all went No.1 overall in previous drafts. Not to mention guys like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and Tracy McGrady, who all went straight from varsity to the NBA and became the focal point of the franchises they played for.
But NBA Commissioner David Stern and the Player’s Association set out to weigh the pros and cons of a player opting to skip college and enter the draft. After working around the clock on a new collective bargaining agreement, Stern and company decided that it was in the players’ best interest to implement a new policy in which a player must be 19 years of age and one year removed from high school before entering the draft.
“This will encourage our scouts to spend time in D-League gyms rather than high school gyms,” Stern said.
Some claim that the decision was an attempt to force kids to play at the collegiate level because college basketball has become “diluted.”
But Stern stood behind the decision stating, “This is a business decision by the NBA, which is: We like to see our players in competition after high school”.
Regardless of the agreement’s intentions, the rule change received mixed reviews. Greg Oden, who currently plays for the Portland Trail Blazers, most likely would have been the No.1 pick in the 2006 draft had it not been for the rule change.
“It’s unfair,” Oden said. “But it’s over with now, so there’s no reason to complain.”
Instead, Oden went to Ohio State where he excelled but battled injuries in college and into the NBA.
Others see the rule change as an infringement on financial success. High school players can be depended on as family providers and being a student-athlete may not be feasible. In the summer of 2008, Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings hit the road to play internationally because he didn’t think that being a student-athlete was in his best interest. Jennings believes that the year he spent playing overseas has a lot to do with his success this season and into the playoffs. Other high school prospects have done the same while waiting for draft eligibility.
Some even felt their constitutional rights were being trampled on by the rule. Jermaine O’Neal, an ardent dissenter of the 2004 draft regulation and prep-to-pro draftee, wanted the issue reconsidered.
“To say you have to be 20, 21 to get in the league, it’s unconstitutional. If I can go to the U.S. Army and fight the war at 18 why can’t you play basketball for 48 minutes?” O’Neal said.
There are good points to both arguments. The NBA wants its players to be developed and mature before entering the draft and the players want the freedom to decide what is best for their futures. How would this rule have affected Kobe and LeBron, two of the most dominant players in the history of the league, if they were denied draft eligibility? Of course, this is mere speculation but the risk of injury could have caused either one of the all-stars’ draft stock to drop and change the direction of their careers dramatically.
But let’s take a closer look at a player like LeBron, a household name and possible heir to the title of “the greatest to ever play the game”. James commanded national spotlight since his sophomore year in high school, seemingly dominating anyone who got in his way. By his senior year it was all eyes on him as scouts waited to see if he would declare for the draft. He was a 6-foot-8, 240-pound basketball phenomenon who played far past his years. He had the body of a power forward and the skills of a guard.
It was no surprise that he went No.1 overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2003 NBA Draft. In retrospect, he wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“This is a longtime dream and I finally accomplished it. The hard work finally paid off for me,” James said on draft night, and nobody doubted that he was ready for the league.
James was hyped more than any other player in the history of the NBA and he not only lived up to the hype but surpassed it.
Many argue that players like LeBron, Kobe and Carmelo are proof as to why many high school players are ready to make the jump to the pros but the issue is still divisive. As of now, the commissioner’s rule is the law.
However, the fact remains that most players disagree with the notion that high school athletes are forced to wait a year before entering the NBA but the positive and negative effects are not entirely known five years into the regulation. Although it has not been an overwhelming success the NBA feels that the overall impact has been positive and players have entered the NBA more prepared. Meanwhile, Stern is still open to expanding the minimum age even further to 20, which seems unlikely, but Stern assures that it will still be “on the table” in future negotiations.
It is undeniable that the high school drafting era has had an incredible impact on the NBA. This issue has touched not only the NBA but college and high school basketball as well. It is an era that very well may have come to a close. Martell Webster, Monta Ellis, Andrew Bynum, Gerald Green, C. J. Miles, Louis Williams, Ricky Sánchez and Amir Johnson were among the high school players taken in the 2005 NBA Draft, the last year before the new rule took effect.
They might have been the last.
For What It's Worth 