NBA Commissioner Wants to Increase Players Age Limit
By Matt Hamm
File this under the too little, but please do it ASAP because we badly still need it tab. NBA commissioner David Stern has come out and said recently that he would like to increase the NBAs current minimum age requirement which is currently 19. He said he would love to add a year to it, essentially ending the “one and done’s”. This makes sense on so many levels, it would help both college and professional basketball in many ways.
Bring legitimacy to the NBA Draft: Right now it’s all about potential. If James Michael McAdoo goes pro, he will likely get drafted ahead of both John Henson and Tyler Zeller. Yeah, the same guys he was sitting on the bench watching this year at Carolina. The NBA Draft is a place where Rick Rubio goes 7th overall and Tyler Hansbrough somewhere in the teens. It’s all about tomorrow and teams are more likely to draft a freshman with more “upside” than a senior and that needs to change. Forcing players to play at minimum of two seasons in college will force them to take notice to how much another year in school can improve their game. The NBA is boring and needs to be revitalized with its young players with each wave of new talent. Instead fans are stuck watching their players leave too early from their favorite colleges and sit on an NBA bench.
Eliminate the “One and Done Era”: Just like Kwame Brown shouldn’t ever have come out of high school. Ed Davis and Brendan Wright should have stayed at Carolina longer. There are far more of these examples than the Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony varieties. NBA teams have paid far too much money to young players that have done nothing (waves to Greg Oden) at least make the players prove something. The NFL requires three years out of high school, I understand it’s a little different game on the gridiron, but come on, at 19 and 20 just too many of these kids are making the wrong choice. It’s not just their careers at stake, it’s time to look at basketball as a whole and realize this isn’t working for college or professional basketball.
Extend a few veterans NBA careers: For every one and done that enters the league prematurely and sits on the bench to “develop” when he could be a star in college. An NBA vet gets a pink slip. 30 teams, 13 roster spots, you do the math, a lot of vets each year face the harsh decision, retire or maybe go overseas (it’s funny when it’s Allen Iverson in the Dominican or wherever he is though). This isn’t a large number of players but it’s a group I would think the NBA Players Association would be concerned with. According to Stern the NBAPA hasn’t wanted to budge on this issue. To me that’s taking one generation over the other, and I honestly don’t understand the choice here.
Puts more emphasis on student athletes: Look I’m not going to sugar coat this one. If you put a kid in school that knows he’s going to be gone in a year’s time. Making millions of dollars in the NBA and he won’t have to suffer any consequences of his actions in college. It’s a whole lot easier to imagine that kid not taking the whole “student” part of “student” athlete very seriously. Now put that kid in a position where he would have to answer to his University and the NCAA if he doesn’t go to school, pass his classes and follow the rules. Oh and God forbid they learn how to manage their money before they make a truck load of it only to lose it all a decade a so later (waves again at Allen Iverson).
This makes sense for everyone involved. The only reason I can see for it being stopped by the NBAPA is because of money. Maybe Anthony Davis in the NBA sooner means more commercials so they figure they can grab an extra dime. In my opinion everybody involved can continue to look at this as a brand. They are killing their brand in the pro’s by putting inexperienced, raw talent on their rosters too early in their player development. And they are damaging the college game snatching the talent away when far too many aren’t ready to go yet. It’s time for a change, David Stern says he thinks the NBAPA will want something in return for allowing the league to add the extra year. I say give it to them, that is if you want to have a good product on the court ever again.
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