BREAKING NEWS: NCAA to impose new age-limit rule
Are one-and-done’s done? (photo. Texas)It’s not official yet, but the rumor is that David Stern and NCAA President Myles Brand are close to a deal that would require players to stay in college for at least two years before leaving to play in the NBA. For the rule to take effect, it still needs to pass through the NBA Player’s Association.
From Jeff Goodman’s Fox Sports Blog…
NBA commissioner David Stern and NCAA president Myles Brand are in agreement that both sides would benefit from a rule that would require players to stay in college for at least two years before leaving early for the NBA.
Now they just have to convince everybody else.
According to sources, the proposal would still need to be passed through the NBA Players Association.
“It’s a big step for the owners and the commissioner to say they’re ready to bargain in good faith to get the rule passed,” said one college coach who wished to remain anonymous. “The NBA is willing to give up something to get this rule passed; we just don’t know what it is yet.”
The NBA adopted a 19-year-old age limit through the collective bargaining agreement which expires in 2010-11.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
GEE...if 30 is the new 20 is 20 the new 10? says:
Wonderful! I hope they make it 3 years. The NBA is going to be great regardless, so it’s not like it needs some young cats who are often not ready to help it. If anything the more the better for the college game. Make them young dudes stay in school and it’s going to really make the college game stronger.
I do still wish they could find a way to pay college players, but at the same time, they been making it all this time with no cash not like a few more years gone bring them down more (in some respects). They deserve some type of cash though.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
BxBaller says:
Why are they trying to keep these kids from going to the league? I know it helps the college game, but what if one of these kids get hurt and their stock drops? i hope the NBA players association doesn’t pass this.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
xlj says:
i’m with jermaine o’neal in that i think this is some seriously racist gobbledygook. only white high schooler ever drafted: robert swift. way to continue to make money off of exploiting black culture without giving any money back. we’re slaves in the nba, slaves to stern and the white owners, and our own people now have dwindling chances to succeed due to this ludicrously offensive age limit. go-go white people.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Austin Burton says:
I like how no one imposes age limits in baseball, hockey, tennis, golf. Look at who plays those sports primarily and look at who plays basketball primarily.
Same thing with the dress code. Put it this way: the dress code wasn’t put in place to prevent Vlad Radmanovic from wearing old Beatles’ t-shirts and tight Euro jeans.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
evan says:
Yeah, because it would have made a difference to the NBA’s biggest stars. Counter fucking intuitive if LeBron/KG/Kobe are all potential MVP choices and Chris Paul only went for 2 years, anyway, but could have easily declared for the 2004 draft.
I hate this reasoning and the fact that big time high school players are going to play with inferior teammates against inferior competition when they could step into a NBA role immediately. So long as the sport is baseball or hockey which make no money for the NCAA, all of the rationale for amateurism goes out the door.
Then again, the NCAA is a scam considering there’s no good reason to have athletics tied to academics when it brings disparity and drains monies from students.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
jnuh says:
Exploiting black culture without giving any money back?
HAHAHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAH.
The AVERAGE NBA SALARY IS OVER 5 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.
Just because you can play basketball at a high level doesn’t give you the RIGHT to play in the NBA.
It’s a business & they can put any kind of restriction they want on the people they want playing in the league.
Just like every other company in the world.
You want to come out of high school & play professional basketball, there are hundreds of leagues around the world for you to chose. It’s just not going to be the NBA.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Austin Burton says:
@jnuh — Than why can you work FOR the NBA without any age restriction, yet you can’t PLAY in the NBA unless you’re 19 (now 20)?
April 7th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
loc says:
BOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
If Im a 19 yr old graduating high school I can go work at McDonalds for $7 an hour, I should also be able to put a ball in a hoop for 7 mil a year if my talent allows it!
April 7th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
bliz289 says:
I’m torn on this one…On one hand it’s crazy to restrict someone’s ability to make a living. On the other hand, there’s no doubt this rule is good for both the college and
NBA game. I’d like to see the college kids get paid - at least the ones who’d be making money as professionals. Best idea I can come up with is to let the sneaker companies pay the kids. That way the market will police itself and the stars will get paid while the 8th man on the bench won’t.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Austin Burton says:
That’s actually not a bad idea, bliz.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
GEE...if 30 is the new 20 is 20 the new 10? says:
Just because they don’t do age limits in other sports doesn’t mean they shouldn’t. Also if a player gets hurt and their stock drops, I am sorry that is just the nature of the beast. Time and chance happen to us all. If you want to be a teacher, doctor or lawyer you can’t come out of highschool and say I am going to declare early for this school or hospital because I feel I am ready. Hell naw. Make them dudes stay in school. Provided they handle theirs, the money will still be there. Dang what is 1 or 2 more years going to hurt. Stop crying for dudes that are going to get millions anyway.
Man if they ask these dudes to wear turban, either quit the L or wear the freakin turban. Most people who are black experience racism on their job anyway, it ain’t like the NBA is special, but those people still have to do their job and don’t make half as much often.
Look it is what it is, them dudes staying in school ain’t hurting them outside of injury, and once they get in the L, again the money will still be there. A lot of them dudes don’t be ready right away anyway, it ain’t like we had a dude who just left highschool to take his team to a championship right off the back anyway.
I really hope they do this ish.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Jah says:
College education is good.
NCAA basketball will receive a boost in starpower over a larger amount of time.
I don’t agree that “forcing” it with this rule is necessary, though.
I’m in favor of freedom of choice.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
bsteezy3 says:
I think this definitely will be good for the college game, maybe good for NBA in the long run. I agreed with the raising the age limit to 19, but I don’t see how another year will really benefit the NBA anyway. It will definitely help the college game though. Look at Kevin Durant–as talented as he is, he is on a bad team, but putting up decent numbers. What if he stayed in college another year? Sure it is ok for Seattle, but wouldn’t he have helped Texas out this year if he stayed??
April 7th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
loc says:
Being a teacher, doctor or lawyer is GREAT but its not for everyone. Even doing a 4 years undergrad isn’t going to get you that, especially if you do one of these communication degrees or whatever degrees many atheletes get. Most of these student athletes don’t even finish school….
Either pay these college students something more than waived tuition fees or else let them go where the pastures are greener. Who cares if the NCAA is making even more millions? Especially if rules like this increase their net incomes without giving a damned thing back to any of the people who are doing the actual work to allow those millions to come pouring in.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Austin Burton says:
“If you want to be a teacher, doctor or lawyer you can’t come out of highschool and say I am going to declare early for this school or hospital because I feel I am ready.”
That’s because working in the fields of law, medicine and education require lengthy training that can only be acquired in undergrad and grad school. Also, those are three of our most important occupations in this society; you don’t want an under-trained 18/19-year old performing surgery that could save or end your life, you don’t want an 18/19-year old working a case that could land you in prison, and you don’t want a youngster teaching your kids and shaping them as adults.
But this is f’n BASKETBALL. It’s not that crucial that you need to make someone wait when they can hold other jobs in our society once they hit 18. And just because basketball players make a lot of money doesn’t mean we should take the “who cares?” mentality. Realize that while they are millionaires, they’re being paid by billionaires, and if you look at the amount of money players make in relation to how much money is being generated by the NBA because of the service they’re providing, I never say they’re overpaid.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
DaPro says:
I really don’t see this helping the League more than hurt it.
First off, you can go to war at 18 yrs old. Why can’t I go play ball for the Bulls. Second, Michelle Wie was 14 swinging a gold club and I don’t see anyone saying she hurt the game by lack of fundamentals. The NCAA must have worked something out with the commish to get paid$.
If a kid isn’t ready then don’t draft him. Alot of kids are not ready for the pro game tight out of high school but damn the names & numbers speak for themselves. (KG,KOBE,T-MAC,LEBRON,AMARE,BASSY,DIOP,ETC) You can make a case that Bassy and Diop are what they are and the college game wasn’t going to aid in their development. The commish and owners benefit regardless because the tickets will always sell. The one year rule did allow kids to make a name for themselves and become household names but two years adds nothing extra.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
bliz289 says:
DaPro - you say “the numbers speak for themselves” but are you sure those guys wouldn’t have been better NBA players with a year of college? those guys didn’t dominate from day one. KG averaged 10 and 6 his first year. kobe and tmac each averaged 7 points in their first season. don’t get me wrong - I think everyone has a right to earn a living whenever the market dictates that their skills are valuable. but i think it’s hard to argue that the nba game isn’t better when the players are more mature, more seasoned and more skilled. so let’s let the sneaker companies pay the kids and put the money in a trust so they can’t touch it until after they declare. you don’t want to totally squash the idea of college/amateur ball.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
now we all know damn well this is some bullshit. they wanna stop negroes from making/earning millions?
how will this rule effect int’l players? do they have to be 20yrs old and still complete 2yrs of american college?
dumbshit. nba is looking more and more foolish. and anyone who supports this idea, then you have to support this idea in all major american sports; team and individual sports; ie…tennis, golf etc…
no college players can get paid. if they get paid, then that automatically makes them PROFESSIONALS. and if you pay one, you gotta pay all. and who the hell wants to pay women bball players? or the fucking swim team? or the volleyball team?…nah, cant pay em.
alls you can do is allow them to turn pro at their discretion. this rule is NOT about developing players, nor is it about developing the college game. its about keeping young black men from becoming millions just because they have athletic ability
aint nothing more to it
April 7th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Daily boy says:
Stern Is Going to regret this decision, Because when the league’s rating are down(like they have been in the past) There’s going to be a kid’s going to come along and be better than every lottery pick in that years draft, and he won’t be able to sell his jersey for 2-3 more years.
Stern is the biggest loser.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Jim says:
It’s funny everyone wants the union to go to bat for kids. Every union tries hard to limit entrance into the company if it’s not expanding because it pushes out higher-paid union members for people who aren’t in the union.
In this case, every kid who comes into the L with a guaranteed contract is pushing out a long-time union member…most likely a black man with a family and responsibilities. It’s not like the league adds more roster spots every year. Though having kids come in doesn’t change how many 1st round picks there are, it would push out a couple of vets every year. The union should protect its own members.
And yeah, they should get paid in college.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
illest says:
Its called racism.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
JA says:
The NBA has a lot of resources, and I’m sure that some sort of study has been commissioned to determine the average age of when a player is able to make an “impact” at the NBA level. And for every one counter-example (Lebron, Kobe, KG), I’m sure there are a dozen solid examples of where it would have been better were they not drafted so young. And this doesn’t necessarily mean that they end up being a bust, but just end up sitting on the bench for several years before being able to compete on the main stage.
Yes the NBA is a business, so you have to take a step back and ask yourself would you like to pay millions per year for several years just to see a teenager physically and mentally mature on the bench before you see any return on your investment (and perhaps not even then).
And I really don’t see the whole “whitey is holding us down” argument some people automatically jump to. It’s not that there are going to be any less people being drafted each year, it’s just a different subset of individuals being drafted. Assuming the same ethnic mix (for lack of a better description) holds, then a similar mix of draftees will make it in regardless.
Not to mention the fact that there will be more solid players being drafted overall as opposed to just those with “potential”, that may or may not be ever realized.
And I think tennis and golf are a slightly different in that those are individual sports where there isn’t a team paying them to play. And if they don’t do well, they don’t get paid. Definitely not the same as the NBA.
I think this goes a little deeper to guaranteed money/contracts. If contracts - specifically rookie contracts - were performance and bonus based (for all of those like Lebron) - the young players who deserved the money would get it.
And no one ever talks about the vets who are forced off rosters because of the young ‘developing’ players that are taking up spots.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
bliz289 says:
yallreaddyknow - i think there’s a portion of America that has a problem with the idea of young, rich black men. so in that sense race is going to be part of this discussion…but there’s a serious flaw in making comparisons to sports like tennis and golf. yeah, a 15-year-old white kid can turn pro in tennis whenever he wants. but if he can’t play, he’s irrelevant. he won’t make any tournaments and you won’t see him on tv. he won’t be playing at the highest level. same with golf and baseball (they’ll keep him in the minors). but in the nba, that same kid who might not have the skill or who might not be ready will find himself front and center playing against the highest competition - the greatest athletes in the world. nba players are often drafted on potential, not the ability to make an impact from day 1. also, many high school basketball stars haven’t been coached at a very high level. giving them a year or two under a Coach K, Huggins, Roy Williams, etc. is a good thing.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Eric says:
The thing about the whole age limit debate that I find interesting is that people make the claim the no one has a right to play in the NBA which is true, but the flip side of that argument is that the NCAA doesn’t have a right to the talent. It is not the responsibility of basketball players to “make the college game better” or help out some schools athletic program. So yeah the league is well within their rights to set up an age limit. But if I were one of athletes I would take my talent to Europe instead of the NCAA. If NCAA wants talent let them pay for it. I wouldn’t call the the college basketball treats basketball players as slavery, but it sho nuff is indentured servitude.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Jim says:
I’m with Eric on this. I have no problem with the NBA’s plan, bigot that I am. But I have a problem with the NCAA. If a kid has no desire to pursue a degree, I hope he would go to Europe and get his. College is fun as hell, but an unfair relationship is an unfair relationship.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Agreed says:
@ Eric - I totally agree. I hope we begin to see a mass movement of the best highschool players going to Europe for 2 years…Then they could get paid and still develop their skills in arguable a better league than the “L”
April 7th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
WHOOPS says:
meant to say the NCAA. not the “L”
April 7th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
jim
u dickhead. u can’t pay college players. thats makes them pro’s. if they are pros, then they dont need to be in the collegiate setting.
and who are you going to pay? if you pay one, you gotta pay all. if you pay D1 players, you gotta pay D2 and D3 players. if you pay bball players, you gotta pay bsbll and ftbll players. you gotta pay hockey players. the swim team, the volleyball team, the fencing team. the tennis team. you gotta pay them all.
if you pay men, then you gotta pay the bitches.
its gotta be an even playing field
see….you aint consider all that. thats why you cant pay college players. and niether can cleat or sneaker endorsers
April 7th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
JA says:
I think if young players were to go to Europe/etc to play it would be fantastic for them. Playing against high caliber talent for a couple of years with players who just might be able to mentor them a bit (slightly different than college) might even be better for their growth than the NCAA. Not to mention taking ‘kids’ away from their comfort zone, into a new country, would likely make them mature quite a bit as individuals as well.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
bliz289
what are you babbling about? anyone can sure make the comparison btwn an nba high school player going pro and a teen tennis/golfer going pro.
its a matter of the principal
there are hundreds HUNDREDS of pro american golfers who became pro in their teens and nobody said shit. nobody was screaming in a debate how they should be in college.
half them bums aint famous golfers, but they are pros nonetheless.
this is not about being on tv. this is about being a teen a being able to become a sporting professional
u dont know shit
feel free NOT to respond
April 7th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
bliz289 says:
yallreadyknow - “if you pay men, then you gotta pay the bitches”…How can we take you seriously when you spew nonsense like that? here you are denouncing racism but promoting sexism. doesn’t make a whole lotta sense.
and what’s wrong with allowing sneaker companies to pay all college players? they’ll only pay the ones who can help their businesses. let it be a free market system.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
fuck that
i rather ball in college for 2yrs than go to yugoslavia
what nonesense are yall talking about?
you still getting a free (scholarship) education. you playing on tv every few weeks and you still might be smashing all the hotties on campus
forget going to europe for 2yrs…thats even worse
i’d stay in college for those yrs and then enter the draft. 2yrs of college ball aint gonna kill yall
why the hell you wanna go to europe where the coach dont even speak ur language?
April 7th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Eric says:
You people act as if going to college will guarantee a player success in the league. Look at how many players who spend time in college are sitting at the end of the bench sucking up millions. Look at how many teams in league suck that have rosters filled with college players.
Every single player that gets drafted into the league is being drafted based on potential/talent. That is why Michael Beasley is considered a better prospect than either Hansborough or Kevin love. College cannot give you talent. And that talent can be groomed in the professional leagues much better than it can be in Ncaa. Very few college players come into the league and make an impact right away. That’s espn bulls@#$t
And if sitting on the bench is proof positive that a young player should have stayed longer in college, then would you agree that any player who sits the bench in his freshman year should have stayed in high school longer? Played more Aau ball? Or maybe those players should have spent a year or two in prep school before going to play in the Ncaa.
Funny how some folks only get pissy about the black dudes sitting on the bench collecting a check,but nary a word is said about all the white boys from Europe doing the same damn thing.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Reed Ewing Frazier says:
I’m torn on this one myself on one hand it’s good for college ball and the NBA in the long run but I don’t like having these cats forced to go 3 years. Yeah it has racial overtones but this is(”The Man” won’t let a black man be in charge of fries at Mickey D’s”)good ole boy U.S.A. I think DimeMag should do a article on all of the cats that went to the NBA from highschool and the one and done college players and show how they all fared in the NBA I bet only 2-5% lasted longer than 4 yrs in the league. Also I think highschool players should start looking at playing college basketball as a ticket to free education with a side benefit to maybe play in the NBA not as the sole purpose of playing college ball. F@$k Masta Stern and his dress code and the NBA Players(P@$$Y) Association for letting the B.S. pass!
Knicks Up all the rest down
April 7th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
bliz289
never mind what wording I CHOOSE to use
the point is still the point
if you pay MEN then you gotta pay bitches…errr…WOMEN (happy?)
how would you feel if female head coachees didnt get paid bu tthe male head coaches did?
the point is still the point
if you pay one, you gotta pay all
NCAA will never allow that. get caught up fool
April 7th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Jim says:
I am a dickhead; also, it’s computer lab time at John J. Fugazi Middle School, apparently.
You make a good point: Can’t pay college athletes because they would be pros. CASE CLOSED! Ignoring this logic…
Grad schools pay students all the time. Students in high demand areas (hard sciences, mostly) get paid to go to PhD programs because they add value to the school. Not scholarships…they pay them. This doesn’t mean they pay all of them, or that they pay people chasing an English MA. They pay the ones they have to pay to get. See any similarities?
You are right about Title IX though, and I think future sociologists should look to your thoughts on the field:
“if you pay men, then you gotta pay the bitches.”
April 7th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
hahns says:
its crazy that people are suggesting college kids get paid. like someone already mentioned above, why only pay bball players? if youre going to pay them, all other sports players on the college level will demand to get paid. especially football players, which is probably the biggest college sport and most susceptible to injury, which would, in turn, merit a college salary the most.
also…where the heck are these salaries going to come from..?? the university? thats probably the most ridiculous part of the idea. first, you got a school funding issue. this money would inevitably have to come from tuition, which would mean schools would have to raise tuition to attract talent. which would mean kids going to school for academics to actually serve the public (doctors lawyers engineers pharmacists) will have to pay more to go to school, so ball players, who will make millions anyawy, could get paid? absurd. on a related note, you got schools that are underfunded, namely public schools, who are getting their funding from the state. so you got a school like rutgers (my alma mater) whose state government is facing ridiculous deficits and has been forced to take massive budget cuts to higher education, get priced out of competive recruiting bc it cant afford players? crazy. and then further along those lines, youll pretty much have colleges having a bidding war over high school recruits, which will freeze out all schools w/o the bankroll/budget to pay these athletes. not to mention the imorality of paying student athletes money to play a game (i love basketball btw) while charging an academic student $40k a year for tuition. thats just not equitable period. why aren’t scholarships enough?
paying college athletes is not an option period.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
listen before you speak says:
@ yallallreadyknow - nobody said they HAD to go to Europe. Obviously it would be up to each individual player to decide if they want to ball in college for free or go to Europe for 2 years and get paid…
April 7th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
jim
what makes a professional a professional?
what is the difference btwn an amatuer and a professional?
explain it to us as though we’re middle schoolers
April 7th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
JA says:
Ummmm … I think Michael Beasley is considered a better prospect than either Hansborough or Kevin love, because he’s a better player already.
But if you consider the most recent NBA dynasty (Spurs), not only was their franchise player the last great four-year college player (correct me if wrong here!), but the majority of their draft picks are seasoned players, and aren’t picked for “upside”.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
listen before you speak
i didnt say they HAD to go to europe either
please “read before you type”
April 7th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
andre says:
this is hard. there are a lot of good players out there who can’t get the sat scores necessary to get into college, denying them a chance to get into the nba to provide for their family. however, too many players are deluded by the nba and hop into the draft at the first chance, leading to failure in the league when they could’ve stayed in college to mature mentally and fundamentally. i think that they should eliminate the whole age rule, but provide a seminar of some sort to show the high school players the truth about playing. that way, we won’t have another sebastian telfair thinking he can make it
April 7th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
is there going to be an age limit for the nbdl too?
April 7th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
loc says:
College athletes that are raking in major profits for their programs should get their share,
If you swim the fastest in america and 5000 people are coming out to pay and see you do so, get your money.
Also,
Americans tend to forget that European and other countries are catching up in many many fields, yall are in a recession. What happens when players are SERIOUSLY going to start considering careers in Europe, Asia and other places. The Lebrons, Kobes and T-Macs will stay in America but your 4-12 type of players might start defecting for more cash and diminishing the level of play overall.
These Euroteams are no joke and if they offer up a 5 yr contract to a blue chipper for 3 or 4 mil a season you might not see that kid again until his late 20s.
College in Arkansas for a 40 k scholarship?
Rome for a 3 mil payday?
April 7th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Austin Burton says:
If anything, this is more about money and marketing for the NBA than it is for improving the quality of the game.
The longer you have kids staying in college, the easier it is for the NBA to create stars. The 2007 Draft was a huge deal mainstream because people knew who Greg Oden and Kevin Durant were from seeing them in college for a year. If those two had stayed in college two years? They’d be even bigger stars. Think of how much more hyped up guys like Chris Webber, Pat Ewing, Shaq and Duncan were as rookies because the country had gotten to know them from watching them in college.
What you had with guys coming out of high school was players being in the Draft pool and no one (mainstream) knowing who they are: Tracy McGrady and Jermaine O’Neal were virtual unknowns that created little buzz when they were drafted, but imagine if people had seen T-Mac at Florida for a year or J.O. at UNC for a year.
So what you have with players going to college is people buying more Oden and Durant jerseys before the season even starts, as opposed to waiting to buy merchandise until they see if the kid is good or not.
The quality of the game improving is merely a byproduct that of course the NBA isn’t opposed to, but that’s not what these rule changes are about.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Sam I Am says:
Football has an age/out of high school requirement and it’s a “black” sport as is “basketball”…why no arguement there?
April 7th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
mattyboi says:
This is horrible…What are they gunna say when a potential 1st pick gets hurt in his 2nd year of college…And ruins his career
April 7th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Dre says:
I like and I don’t like it. I like it because it helps the college game and the NBA. I don’t like it because everyone only focuses on the age limit in basketball. There is one thing that can happen… if you are rated as a lottery pick you and you wish to stay in school for your education, to improve your stock, to win a Championship, etc. You can sign an insurance policy like college football players do. This only covers you if you have a career ending injury. It does not cover you having a great year and being a bum the next. This will be a bitchassness check. So those flash in the pan bums that might slip into the league will have to go to Europe, improve their game and then come back.
I coached young people for years and before the first age limit they act like they can just f__k up in school and them act like they are going to just jump to the league. This should get them into hitting the books a little harder.
Plus, the NBA is a business they have to do what is in their best financial interest and more seasoned players do nothing but help the NBA. Also the fact that they are a company means that when they advertise a job they can put whatever kind of criteria to hold that position they want as long as it doesn’t discriminate about race. If there is a significant financial burden players can always ball overseas for a couple of years… get a little paper then come back to the league even better.
It’s not gloom and doom.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
JA says:
What’s funny is that people say it isn’t fair for a potential 1st pick not to get his money if he gets injured, but it is somehow fair for an owner to be forced to pay the same kid millions of dollars after the same injury after one year in the league (I’m looking at you Shaun Livingston).
April 7th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
GEE...if 30 is the new 20 is 20 the new 10? says:
You are right they are working fields of law, medicine and education and they do require more training. So what is wrong with requiring more (mind you this more is like 1 or 2 more years) for playing a sport. The player has time to get his maturity up and build his skill level. I don’t want a 18/19 year old doing surgery and I don’t want to watch some kid with promise sit on the bench or take up a roster spot from another player who’s better at the current moment.
And even in BASKETBALL you should make someone wait cause again it’s not like they making a dramatic impact for teams in their first year anyway.
Then if you letting them in after 1 year of college, then W.T.F. why not go back to you don’t have to attend college, why go? For that matter lets go find some young junior in highschool with a nice cross-over and steady j and let him in the leauge. We gone start scouting 2nd graders in pee-wee leauges too?
You have to establish rules regardless of who doesn’t like them often, especially protecting the integrity and purity of what you are over. I don’t want it all watered down with kids who ain’t ready. Let them wait.
I certainly take a who cares mentality to these baseball, football and basketball sports in regards to money. I always and will always say they are overpaid
April 7th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
JA
owner must pay if the individual is under contract
April 7th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
Gee
you dont want a 18/19yr performing surgery? haha. fool.
that aint what this is about. no one cares about your fears of doogie howser
its about that 18/19yr olds right to learn to be a professional doctor; regardless of their being a young adult
April 7th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
GEE...if 30 is the new 20 is 20 the new 10? says:
LOL where you been dummy? Lame #$% LOL.
First off you gay for watchin that show freakin homo.
Second your computer prolly can’t scroll up but you should hit that lab up at your highschool and see what all was said before you go posting stupid. Then again that is how you do weallreadyknow. Boi you one rare dumba$$ lol, they don’t even make em like you no more.
Then again your thoughts don’t mean $%&% to me.
April 7th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
DaPro says:
bliz289 says:
DaPro - you say “the numbers speak for themselves” but are you sure those guys wouldn’t have been better NBA players with a year of college? those guys didn’t dominate from day one. KG averaged 10 and 6 his first year. kobe and tmac each averaged 7 points in their first season. don’t get me wrong - I think everyone has a right to earn a living whenever the market dictates that their skills are valuable. but i think it’s hard to argue that the nba game isn’t better when the players are more mature, more seasoned and more skilled. so let’s let the sneaker companies pay the kids and put the money in a trust so they can’t touch it until after they declare. you don’t want to totally squash the idea of college/amateur ball.
I like to watch the college game but the truth of the matter is if a kid is ready, he’s ready. Durant is light as a feather, college didn’t help him put on weight.
Austin you’re right about the marketing of the League. That’s what this is about making household names and more marketable image for the major ticket buyers. Truth is told it’s hard for “white” America to accept many “black” athletes into their home. By this I mean, I won’t watch this game because this guy looks like a “thug”
The commish wants to players to develop a name more so than perfecting his game. The more marketable the package, the more justifiable it is to charge 1000 of dollars for a ticket. The commish is clearly worried about image. The league had a declining period because of the number of players who were not ready from Day 1 (so the experts say) Now many of the best players in the game are 1 and done or no college experience at all.
April 7th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
gee
u lil jigaboo
i aint in high school, so you can stop those comments; or continue them for all i care; but ur wrong
ur asking if 20 is the new 10 and you calling me lame?
the nerve of you
u are a bigger joke than we all thought
feel free NOT to respond
April 7th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
GEE...if 30 is the new 20 is 20 the new 10? says:
Yo lame #$% is prolly 10. You are an exact example why we need age limits on ish. Then again you are a reason to promote abortion too. Who is the we, speak for ya self lil fag. Yea your words and intelligence got high school written all over them. If it ain’t high school then what are you job corps of America, then again I am prolly giving you to much credit for being in school, you 504 special ed. wanna-be. You like a lil studio gangsta, coming at everyone hard on a post. For what? You so elementary.
April 7th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
haha. all wrong and ur not even close
but fact remains u still a jigaboo
April 7th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
He's A Troll says:
Gee- He’s trolling. Don’t even bother lowering yourself to his level and acknowledging his dumb-a$$. It becomes obvious who the intelligent, regular posters on this site are. The loser is not worth it.
April 7th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
D-Town says:
Wasn’t the NBDL put in place basically as a farm system for the hs cats anyway??
Another idea is to adopte the MLB rule when it comes to the age limit.But still keep the draft at 2-rounds.
April 7th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
he’s a troll
never mind what gee and i got going. the shit dont concern you nor your lil two scents
go blog on the wnba website; you puss
mind ur business
April 7th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
GEE...if 30 is the new 20 is 20 the new 10? says:
Lil boy that is all you could come up with. You usually better than that. I’ll go elementary with you though.
So the fact remains you still the first gay retard. Ok so now what? You about to repeat the jigaboo line or talk about the tag-line. Get some new material lil homo. I’m past you for the day.
Anyway while some people are watching Doogie Howser (GAY A$$$$$$ lmao). Let’s say this goes through. What is so bad about it? I mean what is it going to hurt? Not to much. I agree I wish they could be paid in some way but aside from injury it won’t affect to much.
But just letting all these cats in who are often not qualified and not ready well yea I can find way more negatives there and how it will and can hurt college, the pros and kids coming up.
April 7th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
learn how to spell says:
cents you genius. not scents…keep on claiming your not in middle school…we might believe you one day
April 7th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
learn how to spell
I cannot compete with you. you’re too smart for me. you know the grammatical difference between “scents” and “cents”.
You must be so proud of yourself. You are the next Einstien.
April 7th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
Juslisen02 says:
Here’s a thought (and only a thought)…..how about some of the billionaire who secretly HATES Commissioner Stern’s way of thinking start their own “developmental” league where the contracts are for two years, a draft (for players who don’t want to or CAN’T go to college) held after the high school senior year is up, the salary is 50% of the veteran’s minimum (roughly $500K each year and $75K minimum), and they are free to enter the draft after the 2nd season is up…..good idea? I think so. Why?
The owners are billionaires and they could gain sponsorships from some of the MAJOR companies that would want to market these players anyway, the guaranteed “star” players would be compensated greatly, considering the circumstances, AND by implementing a playoff tournament, you could could easily determine a winner from that pool.
What about extra players? Well, a great number of ballers can’t GET a scholarship out of high school, so a salary of $50-75K is nothing to roll your eyes at. I think more than enough ballers would jump at this opportunity. Yeah you have the NBDL, but with the age restriction, no one could go there outta high school anyway.
TWO years, and ya gotta go. If you don’t get drafted or get noticed….TOUGH COOKIE!! That would make the league MEGA competitive because there would be no time to lose. Far too many “ballers” spend there time jumping from league to league.
The average age for a person to graduate high school is 17-19, right? With two years of college that would make them 19-21, right? So……I know this is ironic, but the league could have an age restriction of 17-21 (17 ONLY if you’re a high school graduate or received your GED in the year of your senior graduating class). That gives ALL the best ballers a chance, since you can’t enter the “LEAGUE” until two years AFTER your graduating class, this would be a great scenario.
That could even attract some of the international talents that we have out there….whaddiya think?
April 7th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Celts Fan says:
I supported the initial age limit to force guys to college for 1 year. Drafting a HS player really high is telling your fanbase that they’ll have to (probably) deal with losing for another few years while the guy develops (perfectly ok as long as you don’t want to raise ticket prices, which is not happening) which isn’t fair to the fan (because it was a MUCH bigger question than a college guy.) It also leads to a lot of guys being misjudged. Anything that can stop another poor fanbase from hearing something like, “Just wait. In 3 years, Kwame Brown will be an animal,” or, “Just give it some time. Ndubi Edi will salvage KGs career.” College weeds out the best of the best. It also helps the game cuz the guys that could just coast on their athleticism can’t anymore, whereas in the past, those guys didn’t develop their other skills and become lost in the pros (looking at you Gerald Green.) Now, with one year of seasoning, we can weed out the guys that should be where they’ve been projected (Beasley and Rose) and the guys that need more work/aren’t as good as projected (DeAndre Jordan.) Going to college forces them to not skip a level both in play and their development, and it benefits both the individual players (their game and maturity) and the league. Not to mention, in the NBA, teams don’t practice a lot at all (which is why it’s taken Sam Cassell so damn long to get into the Celtics rotation) so guys like Gerald green can’t learn and develop the fundamentals they so desperately need. College teams do and a guy like Rick Pitino would do wonders for raw HS guys that need that help, even if only for one year. It’s infinitely harder to develop those skills at the pro level than it is in practice every day with a coach that will coach more fundamentals (pros practice plays and tend to assume you should have the fundamentals already.)
Having said all of that, adding a 2nd year is retarded. You don’t learn that much about a player in the 2nd year (the amount you learn from that first year is HUGE, the second year is more incrimental.) Guys that need to stay, can stay, those that don’t need to, shouldn’t have to. At that point, at least the scouts have some tape of them against legit competition, instead of Kwame throwing down 20 dunks a game against sub-par HS comp. and trying to figure out what the difference will be when it’s not a 6′7″ center on him but Shaq.
The age limit is an issue too, since anyone in the DLeague still has to take up a roster spot in the NBA (not so in MLB, so it’s tougher in basketball to just farm out everyone) and with shorter rookie deals, these HS guys (the normal ones, LeBron and Kobe are exceptions) were taking years to develop, then finally breaking out on other teams. In hockey and baseball, there’s an established minor league system that doesn’t require you take up space on the pro team’s roster. Also, tennis and golf are individual sports (you only have yourself to blame) where paying customers pay for an entire tournament, not to see a team (the difference between seeing a 15 year old at The Masters, and paying for Wizards season tickets when they were horrible and only added an 18 year old Kwame Brown -let’s pretend for this example that MJ didn’t come back- is completely different to the fan. 1 year in college at least lets us weed out the guys that need more work.
I LOVED that international idea too (and you have to assume those guys have to spend 2 years out of HS before they can come to the league too, right?) I was thinking the same thing. If you dont’ wanna go to school for 2 years (assuming you’re good enough, if not, you probably shouldn’t be thinking NBA yet anyway!) you can always go overseas. Those salaries are usually not taxed and come with a team-paid apartment/house and let you develop at a level below the NBA, but still higher than the NCAA (assuming you’re in the Spanish or Italian league.)
Anyway, I don’t know if this is racism (some of the points saying it was were addressed above) though it very well may be, but I do know that it’s a dumb idea either way. After one year, if your team screws up, it’s on the damn scouts. It’s tough projecting a HS guy versus pros and comparing him against college guys too, but once you’ve seen him in college, against other amateurs, if you screw up, it’s on the scouts, GM, and team.
I liked the original age requirement to force players to develop and give teams a better idea of who they’re drafting (all really for the paying fan who’d like to know they don’t have to wait 5 years for their new draft pick to MAYBE be good) but adding a 2nd makes no sense (and we didn’t even touch the injury issue. Anything lingering, WILL come out before the draft, so it’s typically something new that could screw a guy out of millions in year 2 that could happen.)
Paying the college athletes will never happen. Not only is the NCAA never gonna let it happen, but there’s no easy way to set it up. I’ve gone over this before, but if they do it for football, they have to do it for Women’s diving. If they do it at Michigan STate (over 40,000 people) they have to do it at Davidson (1500) etc. There’s no equitable way to make it work,a nd that’s ignoring the blatant, “Where will all the money come from?” question.
I hope the Players’ Union doesn’t let this pass…
April 7th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
K Dizzle says:
Great post, Celts.
One thing tho. In the ish of if athlete-students were to be paid, I’ve heard it mentioned a few times that only revenues sports can even do any kind of compensation. That being said, diving wont be paying anybody because they dont bring in money, but we know that March Madness and BCS Bowls bring in 100s of millions to those teams that have the best athletes.
Great post tho. It was gettin stale for a minute
That’s a wrap.
April 7th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
dagwaller says:
This is about one thing: money. Plain and simple. The NBA and the NCAA figure that they can make more money with older players entering the NBA. Are they correct? I’m sure that they’ve done a lot of research showing that they can. Is it their right to make as much money as they can? Yes.
Is it morally wrong to deprive a person of their right to make a living? I think so, but then again, it’s also up to the corporations to protect their own investments. Why pay a guy a few million dollars over a few years to underperform when you can gauge him on the cheap in another way? Because of the promise of potential. Without rules like these, owners would be constantly forced to keep up with the Joneses.
As an NBA viewer, I’m for this rule.
Is it racist? No. Sorry, but it’s not. Does anyone really believe that more white/asian/hispanic/etc (sorry for the generalizations) guys are going to get drafted now? C’mon.
If the 80s and 90s were a Golden Age for the NBA, and then the late 90s and early 2000s were considered to be a down cycle, look no further than the players coming into the the league at the time. Players straight from High School. Yes, there was a lack of name recognition there, but from a purely basketball standpoint, the “go for athletic prowess, potential, and ability to break someone down one on one” approach that epitomized that era was terrible. Two years is fine with me.
April 7th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Austin Burton says:
“Is it racist? No. Sorry, but it’s not. Does anyone really believe that more white/asian/hispanic/etc (sorry for the generalizations) guys are going to get drafted now? C’mon.”
Generally good points, but the above paragraph is off the mark. Helping White players get jobs is not the reason anyone thinks the age limit is a racial thing — it’s because what the NBA is doing is closing its doors to a certain group of adults (18/19-year-olds), and it just so happens that the vast majority of those adults are Black.
Is it a March on Washington-worthy offense? No. It’s not nearly as bad as the crack-versus-powder-cocaine sentencing inequities, but it’s the same type of thing in that it affects one race WAY more than it does any other race.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Celts Fan says:
Very true Austin, but if the NBA continued to decline (in quality of the game and following, a direct result of HS guys that casual fans had no idea who they were, therefore no connection to them, and some guys that didn’t have refined skills) which would lead to less people going and less people watching, thus the TV deals and ticket prices would have to be less, thus the salaries would have to be less. This is really a self-preservation thing and is beneficial to the young athlete (of any race) in the long-term in theory. But again, I support the 1 year of college for all the reasons I mentioned in previous posts and in this one, but going beyond that is completely absurd from any standpoint.
April 8th, 2008 at 8:48 am
doc says:
Fuck that let them youngbucks in.If you a bum you lose your roster spot.Give me the top high school player for Kevin Ollie right now.
April 8th, 2008 at 8:57 am
smitty says:
how come no one brings up the fact that you can’t enter the NFL draft until 3 years have passed since your high school class graduated? the NBA should implement the same rule. there are always going to be exceptions to the rule (lebron, KG, amare, etc) but in the whole it would make both the NCAA and NBA games much better. also, imagine the college careers of lebron, KG, and amare had they gone the college.
as for the race issue…the majority of players in the NCAA playing football (and being drafted) are black. why is it ok in football to have the age limit but not in basketball?
April 8th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Jerome kin says:
Its just going to start makings these kids start going over seas to play. A college education or ncaa experience isnt a requirement to be an nba player as we all know, ..So why wont these players go and play in more competitive leagues over the NCAA if they a re not interested in school. they can aget paid and improve their skills under pro coaching …its not like the NBA will forget about them
April 8th, 2008 at 9:25 am
rathauneak says:
I think that part of what makes KG, Kobe, T-Mac, Lebron, etc so special to the league is the fact that they didn’t go to college. There are a few guys that made the jump that didn’t pan out, but oh well.
Just like some folks above saying that the NBA will still be there after college. The same is true that college will still be there after the NBA (if that’s what the players want). Some players go to college to actually get the education while playing, some go b/c they feel they aren’t ready for the league yet, and now the guys that are ready for the league out of high school HAVE TO GO just b/c Daddy Stern said so. How much better do you actually get playing against sub par competition? When you were younger, did you get better by playing against people you punished on the regular or by playing the older cats that pushed you around and made you want it more??? I personally need a stronger reason for the change than what’s being handed out…it just doesn’t pan out.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Jeff LeGrand says:
First thing, please stop comparing wanting to be a teacher, doctor or lawyer to going to the NBA. In those professions you’re required to have a degree in those fields, it’s not required to play in the NBA. How would it benefit Michael Beasely by destroying the competition for another season, while risking the chance of injury which would cost him millions? How can you stop someone whose willing to work from getting the chance to work and help provide for their families, which in the case of many basketball players is the case. People want to ignore the fact that it is a racial decision, how many white basketball players have gone straight from high school to the NBA? The majority of non black players in the NBA now are not white americans, they’re from other countries, it doesn’t hurt many of them because they’re already coming from pro club teams, this rule would basically only prohibit black high school basketball players. That is the bottom line, how can they say that high schoolers are hurting the game when the top players are high school to NBA players? How much can a player learn about the NBA while in college? Let the kids who’re able to go do so, if you’re not able make it then you should do something else.
April 8th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Celts Fan says:
Jeff, I support the 1 year limit and HATE the 2 year (see post 65 for a much more detailed breakdown why) but let’s address some of your issues.
People want to ignore the fact that it is a racial decision (no they don’t we’ve been talking about it from the first comment.)
how many white basketball players have gone straight from high school to the NBA? (Robert Swift, he sucked and was drafted in the top 15. perfect example of my point.)
The majority of non black players in the NBA now are not white americans (true), they’re from other countries, it doesn’t hurt many of them because they’re already coming from pro club teams, this rule would basically only prohibit black high school basketball players (NOT TRUE, THEY HAVE THE SAME RIGHT TO GO OVERSEAS AND PLAY FOR MONEY THERE, JUST LIKE FOREIGNERS CAN PLAY IN THE NBA. IF THEY CHOOSE NOT TO, THEN THAT’S ON THEM.)
That is the bottom line, how can they say that high schoolers are hurting the game when the top players are high school to NBA players? (becaues for every Kobe or LeBron, there are 8 Tony Keys or Leon Smiths - not to mention all the Kwames that people missed on. Its not good for the game to tell paying fans - the people who drive everything - that you’re hoping a guy may be good, but it probably won’t be for years and it’s still a role of the dice, or you can not draft them as a rule and miss out on the top-tier PROSPECTS (they are completely unproven on a high level) and hope you don’t look like a fool years later.
How much can a player learn about the NBA while in college? (he can from college coaches with connections and some have NBA experience, and he can refine his skills and make himself a better player. Brandon Roy, who declared out of HS and then changed his mind, says he’d be out of the league had he gone straight from HS and he owes most of his career and all-around abilities TO COLLEGE PRACTICES that stress fundamentals much more than NBA practices which focus on plays, because they assume you should already have the fundamentals.)
Let the kids who’re able to go do so, if you’re not able make it then you should do something else. (great in theory, but you’re taking roster spots from qualified guys for a project that’s not a sure thing.)
Again, I HATE this idea, but I was in favor of the initial 1 year of college rule (it’s actually 1 year after your HS class has graduated, so you can go overseas and play if you want after HS.) Screw the 2 years, but HS players SHOULD NOT be able to go straight to the pros. It was really screwing up the system. After they’ve been in college (or overseas) for 1 year to be evaluated against the next level of competition, then they should absolutely be allowed to go. 2 years is dumb as hell, but 1 was a great idea and gives you a MUCH BETTER idea of what you’re drafting/supporting/paying for and gives the players a better idea of where their games are at and what they should work on, or if they even belong in the pros yet (DeAndre Jordan is a perfect example. He’d probably would have declared and been a high pick this year. He could barely get off the A&M bench in the tournament. That’s a wasted pick for the short-term, while a fanbase is still subjected to full price tickets and probably raised prices while the team’s not getting any better. Now, we have a good idea of what he can do, his potential, etc., so any team drafting him knows what they’re getting. forcing him back for another year is dumb since we have a great idea, but letting him out after HS when we didn’t have a clue how he’d do agaist guys that were acutally his size was ridiculous. I guess that’s where I draw the line. 1 year = ok, anything more is dumb and a cop-out by NBA scouts that don’t want to earn their checks. Luckily, I doubt the union will elt this fly…
April 8th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Lady Luck says:
I understand the logic of wanting players to be better equipped physically, mentally, and competitively to play at the highest level. We can name the success stories of players who successfully made the jump to the NBA straight out of HS, but there have been many more who enter the draft, don’t get drafted and then are no longer eligible to play at the collegiate level. The pros is not meant for the development of the potential of players, it is meant for competition at the highest level. If you, as a player, cannot compete at the highest level…you shouldn’t be there.
I think this will be the perfect opportunity for Stern to promote the NBDL. The 2 year rule should not apply to the NBDL. Players should be able to compete in the developmental league, and the NBA should use this as a true minor league system. This is an opportunity to develop not just the on-court game of players but all aspects of being a professional player.The contracts in the NBDL should not count toward the salary cap of any NBA team. NBDL players could still be drafted or called up during the season when eligible. I also like the idea of overseas play. Many players go this route anyway, and a young player not playing in the NCAA can still develop his game and mature as a person with “on the job training” and real world education.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Icy says:
Point Guards!! That’s who should have to go to college. Name one who has come straight to the pros that has lived up to potential? Not one
College: Williams & Paul
Not College: Telfair & Livingston
’nuff said
April 8th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
boogey banger says:
I’m going to dead some of this talk right now. Any bum sitting on the end of the bench is making more money than 75-80% of the guys busting their asses day in and day out. So let’s not talk about how this denies a kid an education. This is all so Stern and the NCAA can make money. The Euro leagues can’t absorb all the high schoolers and no drafted seniors and washed out pros. They know this. So this will force kids into a maze. A dark day is coming for the league and they need to generate hype soon. The athletes are better but the skills have diminsihed. As others have said white guys pay the bills. Black kids buy the jersies, but the real money comes off the tickets, luxury boxes, and ad revenue. They want Jack Nicholson or Ben Affleck sitting courtside dropping 15 hundo a ticket for 41 games, they don’t give an f that you paid 2 hundo for a throwback. These guys aren’t paying the loot to watch thugged out kids who can’t make free throws or can’t defend a pick and roll. I can’t tell you the number of 30-50 yr old white guys I know who won’t watch the pro game because of that. For a time these guys dropped bball to follow golf. Unless they reverse the trend and hype guys like Hansborough, CP, etc they will be sitting where hockey is right now.
April 8th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Lady Luck says:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/steve_aschburner/04/07/nba.age/index.html
April 9th, 2008 at 10:35 am
dagwaller says:
Austin, I see what you’re saying, and I thought the same things for a little while. But think about the end result. I know who it affects more, and it has more to do with social standing and class than it does with race.
As someone pointed out the other day on tv, the number of white people in poverty is GREATER than the number of black people in poverty. I don’t know the actual numbers, and I don’t know how much credence I want to lend the guys on ESPN, but the numbers are probably closer than many want to admit.
That having been said, my MAIN point is best illustrated if you ask yourself the following question: what’s the end result of this change? College athletes, black, white or other, are generally not there for their scholastic achievements. The ones that are good enough to make the NBA can go to college for free for a couple years, then make the jump that they would have made anyway. If they’re not good enough for the NBA, they wouldn’t be on scholarship (in general).
No one’s being discriminated against here, because it’s not like there’s going to be any change in the guys drafted. Austin, your argument that it affects one race more than any other is moot because since the NBA is a league primarily composed of black players, ANY change is going to affect one race more than any other. Just like some posters were saying earlier: if this happened in baseball or tennis, it wouldn’t be as big of a stink, but it would affect more white players than black. But the effect itself isn’t going to be a negative one, which is the point for me.