PDA

View Full Version : NBA Age Limit


BCWWF
04-12-2005, 01:22 AM
Opinions?

I just read something Jermaine O'Neal said on ESPN.com and he was saying that it was racist. He cited how the past two ROY's were high school (LeBron, Amare) and 7 all stars were high school, but that doesn't address the issue of the players that don't make it.

Anyway, personally I strongly think that they need an age limit, and its not because I think the NCAA needs it. Can anybody here imagine going from high school into a completely new city with millions of dollars? That is just asking for trouble, black or white, you need to know how to live before you are given millions of dollars.

The other point is that many high schoolers aren't ready to play in the NBA, so they get drafted and just take a roster position for three years before they finally get off the bench. Jermaine was one of them, the Wolves have one in Ndudi Ebi, there's a bunch of them. They take away from the game if you ask me.

Personally, I think the NBA has the worst draft and transaction system of the four leagues. In baseball and hockey you get drafted and can stay in school, then you work your way up. In the NFL, if you don't make it in the NFL you still have a good chance in NFL Europe, CFL, or AFL. In basketball, they don't have a good minor league system and I don't think have a good enough relationship with foreign leagues. We'll see what they do, if they try to add a better minor league.

RP
04-12-2005, 03:28 AM
I'm not sure where he was going with the whole racism thing. I do believe he made a few good points though. Kobe, Jermain o'neal, Tracy Mcgrady, Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, Amare Stoudalmire, Rashaad Lewis. Thats a dream team. All straight from high school. I mean cmon its 40 minutes of basketball. If there good at it, why cant they play when they turn 18 or 19 and graduate from high school. Unfortunatly i think the age limit thing will stick.

Pete
04-12-2005, 04:15 AM
there was an article on Yahoo sports saying that high school kids can still turn pro AND GET PAID NBA ROOKIE SALARIES but they will go into the NBDL instead of the NBA.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ageminimumwillhavemaximu&prov=tsn&type=lgns


it also says that the nba veterans were the ones in favour of the minimum age, so Jermaine O'Neal is talking out of his arse about racism if that is the case

Gertner
04-12-2005, 01:57 PM
they need a farm system, with teams having direct affiliations to the teams like the NHL, MLB. I'm sure Darko Militic would beenfit more from playing 20-30 min regularaly then playing 1-2 min in garbage time.

BCWWF
04-12-2005, 02:19 PM
The list of high school players who are extremely successful can even be added from Rectal's list, but then there are a lot of guys who fail that you don't hear about. To me its just the fact that they are giving these young guys, who for the most part don't come from money, millions of dollars and expect them to know how to live with it. I don't think other sports have as much of a drastic payoff right off the bat like high school does.

BCWWF
04-12-2005, 02:19 PM
*like the NBA does

The Icon of Elisim
04-12-2005, 04:44 PM
What I read is that they are going to expand the NBDL. Something like one team in the NBDL for every two teams in the NBA. Its a good solution I think.

I don't think the problem is kids jumping from high school to the NBA not knowing how to live in the real world, there are alot of people watching them making sure they aren't being dumbasses.

The problem is kids who don't have the skills to play professional basketball but come into the league because they know they are good enough athletes for a team to draft them and give them money as opposed to going to college and getting better. The reality is that these high schoolers end up on the bench and the coaches don't have time to work with them during the season.

BCWWF
04-12-2005, 05:40 PM
I think it would be cool if some of the international leagues were able to compete with the NBA. I don't know if people into NBA here know much about international soccer, but I'm a huge fan of that and I love how its set up. Pretty much each country has its own league, and their own championships, but then at the end there is another tournament with the best teams from each league.

I like those kind of numbers, and I think basketball would work for something like that way up in the future, but I know a lot of people prefer just the basic NBA 32 teams or whatever. I just don't like minor league basketball for some reason, it'd be cooler if the farm teams were in europe or something. Thats just me though.

Kid Robb
04-13-2005, 06:56 AM
Two problems i have with an age limit.

The first is the one JO and LeBron have brought up when asked about it, that if you can send a kid to war at 18 how can you stop him playing basketball.

The second is that to say kids aren't experienced enough to handle playing straight out of high school is being pretty judgemental on the kids. Given the coverage of HS now, they're exposed to media pressure from an early age, they grow up faster. Not to mention guys coming from overseas, eg Darko Millisic. Just because LB won't play him doesn't mean he can't adjust to it or was too young when he came over. The kid use to train in Serbia while NATO bombs fell outside, tell me he doesn't know enough about real life.

Personally I don't see a need for an Age limit.

YOUR Hero
04-13-2005, 09:29 AM
Old guys want to stick around longer, plain and simple.

BCWWF
04-13-2005, 10:43 AM
Well the NBA is a private business, so it's not like its a god given right to be able to play in it. If they decide they want an age limit, the age at which the US can send you to war doesn't mean anything because they are two completely different situations. I think the age limit and farm teams would help keep the top talent in the NBA at all time and help make the transition easier for the athletes.

I don't really know how Jermaine can be talking, he sat on the bench well before he was good at all. If he had gone to college he could have been great right away, and probably commanded a much larger contract.

SammyG
04-13-2005, 12:47 PM
Its bullshit, why waste ur time in college when u can be getting millions of dollars for doing what u love doing, and supporting ur family

BCWWF
04-13-2005, 01:27 PM
Because besides a few exceptions they are hurting the overall quality of the league.

Sure, tell us about LeBron and Amare, but they are rare. Most high school guys come in and don't play for a few years anyway, or else they come in and play an undisciplined game and develop bad habits because they are on teams like the Hawks.

The minor league system still allows them to be paid, it just makes sure that everybody on your bench can play.

SammyG
04-13-2005, 01:32 PM
Yea.. well i dont know, has the age limit been raised officially, or are they still talking about doing it?

DaveWadding
04-13-2005, 01:41 PM
Its bullshit, why waste ur time in college when u can be getting millions of dollars for doing what u love doing, and supporting ur family
Would it KILL YOU to make half a keystroke and hit the y and o keys every once in a while?

BCWWF
04-13-2005, 03:06 PM
No its not official yet.

At the same time, if they add a true minor league, it would pretty much take away the real purpose of an age limit

PureHatred
04-13-2005, 03:37 PM
Yea.. well i dont know, has the age limit been raised officially, or are they still talking about doing it?

Nothing has been done officially. This is just something the NBA wants in the next CBA.

I think it would be idiotic to even try and keep HS kids out completely. First off, a big portion of your best NBA players arrived in the NBA before the age of 20. Kobe, JG, McGrady, Nowitzki, Lebron, etc. Saying something like, "Well, what about the ones that were failures?" is pretty weak because there are plenty of NBA busts that played four years in college, too. Talent wins out, no matter the age. The fact that Amare, Lebron, and this year Dight Howard were good as rookies proves that. And the guys who washed out at 18 would've washed out if they'd waited three years, too.

Which brings up another point: who gives a fuck whether or not the colleges get to keep their precious big name players? As a student, I would be pissed off if my college was giving away scholarship dollars to a guy who clearly doesn't want to go to scholl, and is only using the university as a holding station. Big time NCAA sports stoppped being about education a long time ago. But christ, if you tell HS'ers they're not allowed to make the jump, then you really are saying, "hey, we know you didn't come to this school to learn, just try to make us as much money and win as many games as possible while you're here. And don't rape anyone."

And the foreign players who come over have been pros since the age of 14 in a lot of cases.

So an age limit is ridiculous.

The minor league thing is the best solution.

BCWWF
04-13-2005, 05:27 PM
The difference between college players failing and high school players failing is that college players have something to fall back on. There's a big difference between having a college degree and a degree from a basketball high school. Even if you leave school early, a lot of schools will let you come back and finish your degree in that situation. If you graduate from Mt. Xion and choke in the NBA, you're pretty much fucked.

Then, the names you gave out (Kobe, Jermaine etc) were all capable of playing in the NBA, but weren't stars right out of high school. Really the only one who has been has been LeBron. It takes a few years.

I don't think the NCAA needs these players, the NCAA game was great this year without them. You are kidding yourself if you say you wouldn't want a player who didn't want to be there. Maybe in the case of Kris Humphries when he went to a horrible Minnesota team and lead their charge with inflated stats, but if have a chance to have Brandon Rush play on your team next year, there is no fan who would care if he didn't want to be there.

PureHatred
04-13-2005, 07:00 PM
The difference between college players failing and high school players failing is that college players have something to fall back on. There's a big difference between having a college degree and a degree from a basketball high school. Even if you leave school early, a lot of schools will let you come back and finish your degree in that situation. If you graduate from Mt. Xion and choke in the NBA, you're pretty much fucked.

Then, the names you gave out (Kobe, Jermaine etc) were all capable of playing in the NBA, but weren't stars right out of high school. Really the only one who has been has been LeBron. It takes a few years.

I don't think the NCAA needs these players, the NCAA game was great this year without them. You are kidding yourself if you say you wouldn't want a player who didn't want to be there. Maybe in the case of Kris Humphries when he went to a horrible Minnesota team and lead their charge with inflated stats, but if have a chance to have Brandon Rush play on your team next year, there is no fan who would care if he didn't want to be there.


Not every player who plays ona college team actually graduates.

If you draft a HS player you don't draft him to be a star right away, you draft him on potential. That's a decision the NBA team management makes, and I don't think you punish 18 year olds for the gambles that owners and GM are willing to take.

And finally, you don't know shit about me. It actually does piss me off that big time colleges spend so much money on sports and sports facilities, but meanwhile college tuittion goes through the roof and general scholarship funds fall lower and lower. The interest rate on student loans is insane and the cost of living is Los Angeles means that Pell grants don't even make a dent on your living expenses. If I didn't have the GI Bill, school would've been basically impossible.

So yeah, I don't care if UCLA wins a national title next year. If the entire team was a bunch of guys who were using college as nothing more than a two year audition for a million dollar paycheck while I have to work graveshift along with my GI to cover the cost of getting my MCSE, then yeah, I'd be hot. College should be for people who actually WANT to get an education, dregree, or traiining. If an 18 year old goes to the NBA and fails, why should I feel bad. Let him enroll in school if he wants to. And if he's not eligible for a scholarship because of NCAA rules, tough shit. Work for it, like everyone else.

PullMyFinger
04-13-2005, 11:09 PM
I understand what he's saying but RACISM is just plain stupid.

BCWWF
04-13-2005, 11:47 PM
First of all, you are completely missing the point. Well drafting a kid out of high school for his potential may be good for the kid, it ruins the league to have a player who can't yet play taking up one of the coveted spots on the roster.

That being said, most major univerisities have self-sufficient athletic departments...National advertisers, 60,000 seats bowls, 15,000 seat arenas, television rights, doners, conference payouts, and sponsorships tend to get you plenty of money.

GODSON
04-15-2005, 12:58 PM
I have a solution for all of them.

Let the 18 and 19 years old get drafted but play in the NBDL until they turned 20. That way, the 18/19 can provide for their families and the NBA can have their age limit.

By the way, AMARE was 20 when he got drafted

NCAA was not great this year. The tournament was the only good thing about college basketball this year.

BCWWF
04-15-2005, 01:08 PM
I can't believe that nobody thought of that!

GODSON
04-15-2005, 04:58 PM
Stern is looking at the ratings and nobody is watching so he's looking for a solution. The age limit seems to be a scapegoat. Let's be real, nobody is paying the NBA attention now. NFL/College Football is dominating. MLB is huge now and Nascar is the second most watch sport in America. NCAA tournament got good ratings but that because it always get good ratings. How many people will go out their way to watch the NBA playoff? The NBA can't even compete with Golf now. Stern sees the game is not as good as it was in the 80's and most of 90's. I think the young players is hurting the game. Stern is trying to copy the NFL/MLB waiting policy too see if it will work.


That's why we have the NBDL minor system.