NBA commissioner David Stern is already discussing raising the league’s minimum age from 19 years to 20, and you can hardly dismiss it as a nothing bit of saber-rattling because the question came up in a random Q&A with TIME Magazine two weeks ago.
The change won’t happen anytime soon. The collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and Players’ Association won’t lapse until after the 2010-11 season. But it’s safe to say Stern has already decided his expectations for the next round of bargaining.
The initial reaction is a sound one. Not only have a whole host of players (role players, stars and even future Hall of Famers) made a nearly seamless transition from high school to the NBA, but failures like Korleone Young and Leon Smith have been, almost exclusively, the exception.
Filed under: Sports
They’re just trying to stop my folk from gettin’ money. “Some 80 percent of high schoolers drafted by the N.B.A. since 1995 became multimillionaires by the age of 21″
Don’t most baseball and hockey players go straight to the pros after HS? I don’t hear the same uproar about those white boys.
Is it really about race, Paul? Or could it be that the quality of NBA play has dropped dramatically over the last 15 years?
Plus, the NBA relies on name recognition before the player get to the League. Shaq was a household name before he got drafted by Orlando.
Nuthin to do with race. Everything to do with the quality of players coming into the league. The infulx of highschoolers and even early entry college students has hurt the game. Kobe ,Lebron and Garnett are the ONLY exceptions. Alot of cats every year attempt to make the jump from highschool to the pro’s. We just don’t hear about their failures….and as a result, their inability to go back to school. You lose that once you declare…after a certain deadline.
I say raise it. Fuck it. Make these boys actually DEVELOP skills BEFORE demanding multi million dollar guaranteed contracts. Cats like Jordan, Bird, and Magic had to EARN their money. Now its handed to em before they’ve even stepped into their first training camp! Where’s the motivation to improve your game then?
That money will still be there after they’ve spent time in college, developing skill, becoming more mentally and physically mature. If a young man has financial hardship and the expectation is that they will make it to the NBA therefore being able to support his family…and if that same young man has undeniable natural skill, the NBA is likely his way to achieve his immediate goals. While I’m not totally against that, I think that these young men are missing out on a great opportunity to achieve two things at one time: a college degree that ensures that they can at least go and teach and coach at somebody’s school–especially if by chance, they were to become physically unable to play at NBA caliber; but also the skill that always comes with maturation. Just because some have adapted well, or that some have become icons i.e. Kobe (Go Lakers!), the NBA can be like a cesspool for grown men (pick an example); I can’t help but think about the mental wellbeing of these—boys—and what they will no-doubt experience when they become big-ballers-shot-callers. lol Maybe a few more years of getting college-tail and doing the school thing, will prepare them better. These boys don’t even know how to balance a checkbook.
The reasoning why a raise in age should be imposed does not match the statistics . These players that entered the league straight from highschool have successful careers and the Kwame Browns are really the exceptions. Any person that truly believes that these players are receiving any type of education while in college are truly fooling themselves. These colleges do not care about the players. All they care about is the money that the top players will earn their school as well as themselves. Why should these players subject themselves to that type of exploitation, when they can skip that and make the millions for themselves that the colleges and universities are making off their name.
I hear you tharskay…..follow the money and that’s usually where the answer is.
Both EK and Tharsky make good points.
“Don’t most baseball and hockey players go straight to the pros after HS? I don’t hear the same uproar about those white boys.” -Paul
That’s real spit, Paul.
Tharsky is right.
Most colleges don’t give a sh*t about the player, only the dollars the player brings in. If these guys are skilled enough at 18 to make the leap, let these guys earn a living. In golf, soccer, tennis, baseball, NASCAR, practically all Pro Sports allow you to compete when you skill level dictates it. Regardless of age.
“Kobe ,Lebron and Garnett are the ONLY exceptions”-JD
I dunno about that JD. I think Tmac, DHoward, Jermain Oneal, Al Harrington, Andrew Bynum and Monta Ellis might have something to say about that. And even though Kwame is a bum, he is not known as a raucus, trouble maker who would have been well served to stay in school.
Each of the guys I mentioned is either an All Star or is among the league’s better players at his position. These guys are not the problem. As the article states, they generally make a seamless transition to the NBA.
Considering that we are currently witnessing the toughest western conference race in the HISTORY OF THE NBA, I can’t buy into the quality of players theorum either. The West is UGLY! And Boston, Detroit, Cavs are pretty decent too. The NBA is alive again! The major market teams, except knicks, are all thriving.
THE ROOT OF THIS IS IMAGE! If you look at a typical NBA game you’ll see about 8 black men, mostly tatooed, some corn rowed, some afro’d out, some unshaven, some unkempt, some down right threatening. Now look in the stands of the NBA games, undoubtedly you will see the fans are largely NOT from the same demographic as the players they cheer. Stern’s raising of the age limit is his attempt at cleaning up the NBA. He thinks that giving these kids a couple years under a college system will teach them discipline and structure, which they may not have received in High School…which I understand.
One thing is for sure, the problem is NOT the quality of players coming into the league from high school.
Anonymous:
I dunno about that JD. I think Tmac, DHoward, Jermain Oneal, Al Harrington, Andrew Bynum and Monta Ellis
JD:
Point taken. But still those guys are not on the same level as the three I mentioned…no where close! Also, let’s say you include these guys in the numbers…do they outnumber the early draft entries that DIDNT even get drafted??? Or got drafted late in the second round and didn’t make the team? Didn’t last one whole season?? I THINK NOT. Give me some numbers that prove otherwise.
…and to the point about the fact college doesnt educate these guys. I agree…but that is not my rationale for staying in college (although it is VERY important…for the sake of this post, education was not the argument here…). My rationale is in terms of the PRODUCT of ballplayer that comes out and how that has impacted the league mindset of these ball players as a whole. Everybody looks at those 8 or 9 guys and thinks they can be the next Kobe or LeBron when they are kiddin themselves!!!
Gettin’ pimped into thinking they better than they are by their families, and “agents”…so THEY can get paid. Then dude is out of the league in 2 years with NUTHIN.
Most of the players being cited as examples of good jumps from high school were not good players until their 3rd year in the league or beyond.
Kobe wasn’t even good until his 4th year. He should’ve played in college.
The NBA sucks. They need to eliminate about 5 teams. The talent is far too diluted.
Thats what I’m talkin’ about Big J. How many of these guys were GOOD NBA Players when they came in?? Lebron is probably the only one. The reason why I called LeBron Kobe and Garnet “exceptions” from the others anonymous listed is the fact that yes…those other guys are good players…but the three I mentioned actcually have improved their games significanlty EACH YEAR and have shown the drive to be the best. Alot of these guys come in, get a phat check, and just stay comfortable…and don’t develop.
College helps these guys develop as ballplayers. Can anyone say Tim Duncan?? He was a star from JUMP. No coincidence.
JD starts on the most important point…the statistics that cite success amont those that jump from HS to pro are misleading. There are probably dozens of guys, each year, who get taked into signing with an agent in 12th grade, who in turn loose their college eligibility, then never get drafted, thereby screwing their career. There are some seriously predatory agents preying on High Schoolers, gassing their heads to go pro, hoping that they get lucky and sign somebody who makes some $. Then, nothing happens. Until the NCAA allows you to sign with an agent, then change your mind and go back to college, these rules need to be in place.
Raising the age stops all this predatory BS….and, to everyone else’s point, makes the game (college and Pro) better to watch…and the NBA is within their rights to make it so. The NFL’s got an age minimum too.
Big J and JD,
“Kobe wasn’t even good until his 4th year. He
should’ve played in college.”
My brothers. How long have you been watching the NBA? I’m assuming a while. Then you know it takes a full 3 seasons to develp in the NBA. REGARDLESS OF COLLEGE. It speaks to the difference in level of college play to the NBA. Was Kobe, Garnett or even Lebron the same player after their 3rd year as they were in the 1st?! Of course not. There is a reason the 3-yr Rookie contract exists. Because that’s how long it takes to find out what kind of player you will be in the NBA. REGARDLESS OF COLLEGE.
“How many of these guys were GOOD NBA Players when they came in??”
How many players PERIOD are good NBA players when the came in….The vast minority of players drafted do not come in and make an instant impact in the NBA. REGARDLESS OF COLLEGE. I’d bet that there are far more players who spend 4 years on college and wind up as journeymen and marginal role players their entire careers.
Are you telling me that
Tracey McGrady
Jermaine O’Neal
Monta Ellis
Andrew Bynum
Dwight Howard
are NOT stars in this league? Most of them have played allstar games. All of them should have.
I’ll challenge you one better.
Name me players who were drafted out of High School, but DID NOT succeed in the NBA.
The author of the article said:
” The initial reaction is a sound one. Not only have a whole host of players (role players, stars and even future Hall of Famers) made a nearly seamless transition from high school to the NBA, but failures like Korleone Young and Leon Smith have been, almost exclusively, the exception. ”
He was absolutely right.
BTW, anonymous was Big Wayne.
The vast minority of players drafted do not come in and make an instant impact in the NBA.
should read:
The vast majority of players drafted do not come in and make an instant impact in the NBA
I’m w/big wayne on this one. The percentage of HS vs college studs isn’t even close and all players have to adjust for a few seasons. There are bad stories out there but college players end up journeyman or in the NBDL at a much faster clip.
Predatory agents are a separate issue in my book and an easy fix the league isn’t willing to help bring to fruition.
Bottom line is this age limit has more to do w/the complete failure of the league to market itself post-jordan. GM’s jumped on this HS youth movement, then the league tried rules changes to speed up the game, hand check rules so guards can score (like jordan), dress codes to address big wayne’s point about demographics/fear and none of it worked. its straw grasping.
i haven’t been a laker fan since the showtime years but I’ll admit the Shaq/Kobe team was basically America’s NBA team. Kobe’s fall from grace and the simultaneous Shaq split was a HUGE blow to a league in flux. From a marketing standpoing losing batman and robin at that point and in that fashion was like losing Jordan.
The west has been phenomenal this year but the suits behind the league won’t bank on this being a sign that they’re out of the woods. Expect more tinkering.
BigWayne summed up my thoughts exactly.
That whole go to college so they can learn “xyz” is bogus.