Woj nails it (NBA draft age requirements)

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3356296&sportCat=nba&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos1

I've always thought the NBA minimum draft age was a ridiculous rule and Gene Wojciechowski has a great send-up of it in this article.

 

You hurt the NBA's product if you allow the high schoolers to jump right away.

You hurt the credibility of a school to allow a kid to hang out at your school from August through April without ever making an effort to be a student.

Would the best choice be place an age limit on the NBA?

Make it 21 (or two years beyond their high school graduation), and if a player chooses to go straight to the pros, they are kept in the developmental league for two years. Their signing bonus after they are drafted can cover expenses they would have in the D-League. They would also still get a per diem.

The ones who choose college could at least be a student for a few years, and then they can see how that suits them.

I know most people will not agree with this, but allowing the high schoolers to jump to the pros just was not working, IMHO.

 

It's two years in football, right? Should be two years in basketball. CBS is happy because it can market the Loves, Mayos and Beasleys of this world for two seasons and the NBA will be happy because it knows these players will eventually join the pros.

I still prefer the college game immensely over the NBA, but the constant turnover of top talent prevents a dynasty from taking place. And no, I don't root for Duke.

 

As Woj points out, the age minimums are great for everyone involved, except for the players themselves.

Say what you want about the high school players who were drafted and became busts, but they all made millions of dollars. That was bad for the teams who drafted them, but great for the players. Would those players have benefited from a year or two in school? Possibly. I think it's more likely teams would have seen enough of them to realize they wouldn't be stars and it would have cost those players millions.

 

Three years from high school graduation.

And honestly, there's no need to force kids to stay in college until they're 21 because the system's working. Even if they stay only one year, that's long enough for the kids who are one-and-done to become stars and give the NBA Draft the star power it lacked when so many flocked straight from high schools to the NBA.

It's why the NFL Draft has been so popular for so long -- people know the names, so they get excited about the draft, to see who their teams take.

 

Then there should be an age limit on when kids can fight for their country.
These kids do not owe college basketball fans a damn thing.

 

None of these players owes us entertainment.
None of them owe the NCAA and CBS a damn thing.
Let them do what they want.

 

F_B, if people are paying money to watch them play or someone is playing their salary, then they do owe someone something.

 

They owe it to themselves to make the best decision for them. It might be to stay in school, it might be to turn pro.

 

Who is paying their salary?
Who will pay their salary if they suffer a career ending injury?

 

Bingo.

The draft should be the sports equivalent of a free market ... if teams want to risk their future by spending millions and a lottery pick on a kid who they haven't seen against the best competition, that's up to the them. If teams feel the risk is too high on a kid, he won't get drafted and he'll go to college and develop his game.

Then, if he shows he can play, teams will draft him. If not, he'll never make the League.

As it is, they are potentially preventing these kids from making millions. It goes against a lot of the basic principles of our country (free marketplace, etc.). And when you consider how many basketball players come from poor families, that stinks.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other industries outside of sports that couldn't "draft" (aka, hire) a kid right out of high school if they thought he or she were talented enough (cough, journalism, cough).

 

If an NBA team (a company) believes an 18-year-old player (potential employee) can help they should be able to sign him. If a player believes it in his best interests to accept a job rather than stay in college, that should be his right, too. As an adult. As an American. Sports should not be allowed exceptions to employment law.