Woj nails it (NBA draft age requirements)

The whole point of the NBA age requirement is to force the uppity negroes to play in college for a year or two. Given that fact, why not go the whole nine yards and set the requirement at four full years after HS graduation (or 22nd birthday, whichever comes last)??

If we're going to force them to go to college, might as well force them to stay four years, just like in the good old days.

No less legally enforceable than 19, or 20, or 29, or 36, or any other arbitrary figure pulled out of the air.

 

I anxiously await the day that David Stern attempts to defend the NBA's minimum age requirement in court. That should be good for a couple laughs.

 

93, it's become clear from this thread and the Love one that you just want these kids to stay so you can be entertained watching college basketball. That's bullshit, they don't owe you or anyone else anything. If they feel it's right to go straight to the NBA from high school, they should be allowed to do so.

 

So that's your entire rationale for that nonsense?

Um, minus a couple exceptions (like 83 Finals MVP Moses Malone), the HS-to-NBA phenomenon didn't begin until the late 90s after Garnett and Kobe (who I seem to recall having something to do with the 00, 01, and 02 World Champion Lakers) started it, and the one and done rule is only a couple years old, so there's kind of a gaping flaw in your little basketball reference historical analysis there--these circumstances didn't exist for the overwhelming majority of those years.

But I did notice that only one 4-year college guy has won the finals MVP in the last 20 years (Duncan), the rest were all early entry guys. And I see plenty of names like Shaq, Jordan, Magic, Isiah and Hakeem who somehow managed to get titles without the benefit of a 4-year college experience.

Sorry, but arguing that leaving early hurts an NBA career is silly and contrary to overwhelming evidence now. Duncan and Nash are the only all-stars left who weren't early entrants, and they're both on the back end of their careers. The best players on nearly every team were early entrant or no college guys. Of the 4 legitimate MVP candidates, three never spent a day in college, the fourth left early. In short, it's just a thoroughly lame argument.

 

Of course, Kobe was how many years into his NBA career before he had a hand in those Laker championships?

 

Fourth season. And he was stuck behind Eddie Jones and Nick van Exel for the bulk of his first two seasons.

 

Honestly, what do championships and being the No. 1 option on a team matter? If someone wants to pay for the services of a player who isn't ready, who cares?

Who are you or I to stop a young man from setting his family up for life? Because he might not be the go-to guy on a championship team? Gimme a break. Like most others have said, these players don't owe anybody jack shit. Not you. Not me.

 

With a developmental league in place, why isn't that an option? Why can't the NBA draft a kid out of high school, based on potential, and put him in the developmental league?
If his game eventually develops to the point where he can play in the NBA, great, if not, it's no different than most of the MLB draftees who never make it to the majors.

 

A kid can sign with the D-League out of high school and then be drafted after a year.

 

We are going down this road again, but the list of straight from high school players and one year (everyone keeps lumping in the and two, three year players) players who have been the captain of NBA champions is very short.

The list
Moses Malone (on a loaded team)

Here are all the top-10 picks of the past 8-9 years and how they have fared in the NBA.

Kobe (has done nothing since Shaq left, but this could change this season)
LeBron (one NBA Finals, swept)
Garnett (all-star)
Kwame Brown (nothing)
Darius Miles (nothing)
Larry Hughes (nothing)
Al Harrington (nothing)
Rafer Alston (nothing)
Steve Francis (nothing)
Lamar Odom (still playing at a high level)
Jon Bender (nothing)
Corey Maggette (decent player)
DerMarr Johnson (nothing)
Jamal Crawford (nothing)
Kwame Brown (nothing)
Tyson Chandler (decent player)
Eddy Curry (nothing)
Eddie Griffin (nothing)
DeSagana Diop (nothing)
Rodney White (nothing)
Dajuan Wagner (nothing)

Still early in their careers

Amare Stoudemire (all-star)
Carmello Anthony (all-star)
Chris Bosh (all-star)
Shaun Livingston (?)
Josh Childress (?)
Luol Deng (?)
Dwight Howard (all-star)
Marvin Williams (?)

This is not an impressive group of top-10 picks, but the list is getting stronger with the recent additions.

 

Dude, being a bust isn't exclusive to high schoolers. Look at every 7-foot white guy who has every been a lottery pick. Most of those schlubs played four years and were horrible pros.

 

What does that matter?