Age Limit
See also: NBA high school drafteesIn 2005, the NBA was in the midst of creating a new collective bargaining agreement. One of the main topics of the deal was the league's desire to create a new age limit for players to enter the NBA Draft.
The idea of an age limit had been talked about for several years, after the entrance into the league of several high school players. While several players who have entered the league out of high school have become successes (Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Amar'e Stoudemire, Jermaine O'Neal, Rashard Lewis, Tracy McGrady, and decades ago, Shawn Kemp and Moses Malone), others have been relative failures (for example, Ndudi Ebi, James Lang, Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry, Robert Swift, DeSagana Diop). Those in favor of an age limit made the argument that players entering the league out of high school did not know the fundamentals of playing professional basketball and also were not mature enough to handle playing in the NBA.
| “ | Well, they are physically mature enough to be part of the NBA, and they are great young players. But as you frame the issue, the question is whether a couple of years more of seasoning would increase their maturity, their skills, their collegiate programs and ultimately what it could do for sending messages to kids who are practicing their skills who should think about getting an education rather than coming right to NBA. | ” |
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—NBA commissioner David Stern in a 2001 interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer., |
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Proponents of the age limit included Michael Wilbon, who argued that it was important for young players to get an education. Wilbon's belief, while held by many, has also been referred to as "simplistic" and " not just hypocrisy but a reimagination of reality as well". Michael Mccann of the Mississippi College School of Law made this argument:
| “ | In stark contrast to popular myth, this Article finds that players drafted straight out of high school are not only likely to do well in the NBA, but are likely to become better players than any other age group entering the league. ... Beyond excellence in performance, high school players can also earn substantially more over the course of their NBA careers ... players who bypass college may earn as much as $100 million more over the course of their careers than had they earned a college diploma. | ” |
Greg Anthony was one prominent NBA personality against the age limit. Anthony's belief was that people should be able to make their own decisions about whether or not to enter the league, and that (quoting an article and not Anthony himself) "players from inner-city high schools aren't academically qualified for college because of the lower quality of education compared to their suburban counterparts" This led him into conflict with Wilbon and more notably with colleague Stephen A. Smith. On an April 2005 edition of NBA Shootaround, Anthony and Smith got into a heated debate about the age-limit. This came only days after Anthony was the primary interviewer in a discussion with Indiana Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal.
The interview was described by Sports Illustrated writer Mark Bechtel as "...Greg Anthony putting words in O'Neal's mouth then saying something along the lines of, "Is that what you meant?" And then O'Neal would say, "Exactly." It came on the heels of O'Neal discussing the age limit in the context of race, and as he was in the midst of growing media attention and criticism.
| “ | As a black guy, you kind of think the reason why it's coming up. You don't hear about it in baseball or hockey. 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 and then go home? ... In the last two or three years, the Rookie of the Year has been a high school player. There were seven high school players in the All-Star game, so why we even talking an age limit? | ” |
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—Jermaine O'Neal, |
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As noted in the article The Real Color of Money: Controlling Black Bodies in the NBA by David Leonard, O'Neal was roundly attacked for his opinion, with many accusing him of playing the race card.
With the agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement, the age limit was put into place. Any person attempting to enter the NBA Draft must wait until the calendar year of his 19th birthday, and must also be at least one year out of high school.
Read more about this topic: National Basketball Association Controversies
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