June 13, 2005
DRAFT AGE
This one's been sticking in my claw as of late, and no; it's not what you think.
The hot-button issue as the National Basketball Association (NBA) and its players negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement is NBA Commissioner David Stern's desire to increase the minimum age for entry into the NBA Draft to 20 from 18. With another wave of super talented high school seniors poised to enter the NBA, I totally disagree with the proposed change, if for no reason other than to point out that Stern and league officials are out of touch with their fans.
Each year, the NBA conducts its annual entry draft (called the NBA Draft), which is the only way an amateur basketball player can get into the NBA. To the dismay of many people, including the NBA's own Commissioner, David Stern, a number of drafted players in recent years have just completed their senior year of high school, opting to skip college altogether for a shot at he pros. According to Stern, these high school-to-the-pro rank players are immature, unprepared, and ill-advised, as well as difficult to evaluate because they have never played against a higher brand of competition, even though most will sign guaranteed, multi-million dollar contracts before they would have ever stepped foot into some grumpy old college professor's English Lit 101 class at name-your-top-ranked university.
In stark contrast to what David Stern has to say about these players, recent studies have revealed that players drafted straight out of high school are just as likely, if not more so, to become better players than any other age group entering the NBA. Studies show that on average, high school players perform better in every major statistical category than does the average NBA player. Beyond excellence in performance, those players who bypass college can earn millions more over the course of their short NBA careers than had they earned a college diploma (not that I agree that this is right, mind you, but I'll save that for a future post), and no one--I repeat, no one--is forcing any of the NBA's teams to actually draft one of these kids.
But what really gets me about David Stern's position--on this completely trivial matter--is that he also maintains that we the fans do not want to see the high school ballers mixing it up with the pros, and that even attending one year of college would make the level of competition more enjoyable for us the fans. We don't want to see high schoolers mix it up with the professionals? What, are you kidding me? Aside from the ultimate David verses Goliath scenario, when a high school player enters the National Basketball Association, he's considered a phenom. We're fascinated by phenoms, especially those with athletic ability. You put an 18-year-old onto the basketball court with the possibility that he can slam-dunk the ball in the face of someone 8- to 10-years his senior, and I'm watching. We don't want to see high school-age kids mixing it up with the pros? Yeah, right; just like we don't want to see crashes at the Indy 500.
Posted by Mikal at June 13, 2005 7:28 AM
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Mikal, I am totally confused on this one. It is Stern's position that he wants high schoolers to be drafted by way of lowering the draft age but doesn't think the fans want it. Therefore he would seem to be disinclined to lower the draft age.
On the other hand, as a fan, you don't want high schoolers to be drafted thus keeping the minimum age the same at 20 yet your interest as a fan would be piqued even more if 18 year olds were indeed in the game. Therefore, shouldn't you, as a fan, be excited about Stern's desire to lower the age?
Dave: Thanks for weighing in, and now I'm confused by what you wrote! You may want to reread what I wrote. David Stern does not want to lower the draft age from 20 to 18; he wants to increase it from 18 to 20, and that's I wrote, and that's what I disagree with. It is Stern's position that he does not want high schoolers drafted (not the other way around).
