How do you feel about the one-and-done rule?
DeMarcus Cousins at Kentucky
When I asked Kenny Smith which 2010 NBA rookies he was most looking forward to watching this upcoming season, he relayed an opinion no doubt shared by a lot of basketball fans:
“I’m looking forward to all of ‘em, because we’ve only seen them play about 30 games,” Smith said. “You look at the best players in the Draft, the guys in the Top-5, and a lot of them are freshmen who haven’t played that much, so we don’t really know how good they are. So I’m anxious to see them in the summer league, I’m anxious to see them in the preseason, so we can get a gauge of how good they really are.”
On a larger level, NBA GM’s are similarly curious despite having scouted these players up and down. John Wall, Derrick Favors, DeMarcus Cousins and Xavier Henry may have future All-Star ability, but their resumes are shorter than players who went to college for three or four years. That unknown factor is one reason (besides the obvious financial/marketing benefit) the League enacted its 19-year-old age limit in the first place five years ago. Too many teams had gambled on raw high school talent and lost, and the skill level in the NBA was seen as going downhill with more and more athletic but not well-schooled ballplayers entering the League.
In the meantime, the age limit has created the rise of the “one-and-done” era. Players who likely would have gone pro right out of high school — and those who maybe would have stayed more than one year originally — are going pro after their freshman seasons at a higher rate than ever before. One reason: Players have realized that the younger you are when your rookie contract runs out and it’s time to get that second contract, the better it is for you financially.
High-profile basketball figures like Bob Knight have railed against the one-and-done rule, saying it makes a mockery of the “student” part of “student-athlete.” Others have said it hurts the college game on the court as well, since coaches are put in a tough position deciding whether to recruit a player who will most likely stay very briefly in the program and hurt continuity. And are the players who come into the NBA after one year of college ball really that much better off physically?
How do you feel about the one-and-done rule?
Tell us in the comments section, and we’ll run some of the best answers in an upcoming issue of Dime.
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July 12th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Joe's Momma says:
It is lame.
Its a shame.
And its a sham. Who really believes that playing 1 year of college ball with make that much of an impact on players?
This rule was impleted for 2 reasons:
1) To allow NCAA to get some good freshman talent, potentially getting more exposure, and $$$.
2) Allow NBA to curtail costs further down the road as some HS ball players will have 1 less year of NBA experience when the negotiate their contracts when they are about 30 yrs old.
This is a discriminatory act imo, age discrimination. A person can fight in a war at 18, but can’t play in the NBA. That is terrible
What if a player plays 1 yr college ball, and tears up a knee? He could have gone to the pros and made some $, while being treated by the best doctors in the business.
Changing it to 2 yrs would be worse for players, but it would be better than 1 yr.
July 12th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
KWAME says:
i didn’t know one and done was a rule…i just thought it was a byproduct of the age limit…but i think it’s ok…i mean at least we get to see the players in college…it makes college better…but they should be allowed to leave whenever they want
July 12th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
karizmatic says:
I think the one and done rule is stupid, if players want to come to the league out of high school then let them. It is up to the owners to decide whether they want to take a chance on a high school player or not. If they really thought it was a liability they wouldn’t sign these guys in the first place. And why one year anyway? Why not two or three or just mandate that NBA players have to have a full four years in college before being eligible. It’s a stupid arbitrary rule that doesn’t exist in any other sport primarily because colleges make so much money off of great basketball players via the NCAA tournament that they don’t want to let it go. They should have never put the rule into play and they should get rid of it and hold the owners accountable for taking risky gambles.
July 12th, 2010 at 3:38 pm
L.A. WILSON says:
I understand why top tier college players execute the one-and-done-rule. The money is very enticing for 1st round draft picks. It is very difficult to turn down millions of dollars. However, as Black men, specifically those who came from the slums or poverty, the value of a basketball scholarship and “free” education is equally enticing. Personally, I would stay in school and get my degree before going to the pros if I were in that situation. However, top players like Shaq proved that you can go back to school and play basketball and earn a degree. So I would advise those basketball players to consider going back to school for their degree after being drafted. A long NBA career is not guaranteed. Anything can happen. It is better to have multiple backup plans and options rather than simply relying on one thing. We have to learn how to delay gratification.
July 12th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
JAY says:
@Kwame… you’re right. DIME dude Burton is wrong.
The NBA didn’t create a “one-and-done” rule. They implemented an age limit. Kids who would have been prep-to-pro went to school for a year then made the jump. This is the byproduct of the rule which was implement.
This article should be titled “How do you feel about the age restriction”?
July 12th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
samk says:
I think that the NBA should utilize the D League a little more. Allowing prospects to play in the D League gives everyone a better idea of playing in the NBA, gives the kids pay (albeit a low salary, but every little bit helps right? And it’s dangerous to put a ton of money all at once into the hands of kids and manipulating friends/parents-giving them a low salary to begin with i think would help them manage their finances a little better too) and raises the level of awareness, competition, and marketability of the D League instantly. It’s called a development league for a reason right?
This would be great because it would still prevent high school players from joining the NBA but they can join the NBA DLeague and academically ineligible players like Brandon Jennings wouldn’t have to go overseas (sure the pay is better but some people like to be close to home). Also the NBA scores financially b/c they can keep paying D League players the same low wages while at the same time raising the income from increased market and in turn can reduce the pressure on NBA teams to pay for their d league squads.
The only loser in that scenario is the NCAA. If you want to appease them too an even more far-fetched idea would be to raise the limit to two years in college and allow freshman to enter the D League instead of the NBA. And/Or allow for improved pay/contract/negotiations if they stayed in the NCAA for more than one year. Make the pay/contracts a little more advantageous for each year in college so that they would have an incentive to stay and if they don’t pan out they still have an education/degree to fall back on.
The only thing that makes this tricky is that NBA teams sign d league players all the time so there would have to be some contract stipulation for the D League teams to prevent that or have them apply for the draft right before they enter the D League, get picked by the team, and join their D League squad.
July 12th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Mr. TKO says:
I’m a supporter of age limits before you come to the NBA. I’d honestly prefer 2 years before you can come in to the league.
YEah, there are a few people that suffer from missing out on NBA money cuz they’re just that good but there are a lot more people that come out before their ready or come out just cuz they can jump and touch the fucking ceiling and somebody hopes that maybe they can develop some actual skill as well.
People are being greedy and not thinking of ramifications. Let these players develop in College where people can actually take the time to work with them, NBA you’re pretty much on your own, they pay a lil bit of attention to you but you’re pretty much expected to do it on your own,
I bet for every Highschool/One and done success story, there are probaly 3-5 failures to balance the shit out.
I don’t watch college ball so I don’t keep track of who does well and who flunks out but I’m sure there are people that can list them.
If teams could actually watch how these players handle better opposing talent, how they develop their games, how they handle coaching and pressure, then you would have less teams making all these shitty draft picks based off of how high some dude can jump.
July 12th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
drizzlerulz says:
stupid rule. If a kid wants to come out after high scool and someone wants him, so be it. BUT, if you are going to go to college you should be locked out of the league for 3 years. It would let the “Lebrons” come out like they should and it forces college student-athletes to perform in the classroom. REMEMBER: a potential NBA player is NOT forced to go to college. He can do whatever he wants (Europe) in the 1 year as it stands now
July 12th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Samuel Fulton says:
I thinks just rediculous…. It was okay 10 years ago when athletes actually wanted to go to college. Now days nobody cares, the colege game is simply being destroyed as well as NBA. As mentioned there are no more pure skill athletes, just athlete’s at every position. There are no more college dynasty’s, there are no more legendary coaches, WHY? because nobody stays to buld a dynasty with their Team in College.
The NBA is no longer a “MAN’S GAME”, it really isnt. 20 years ago sure it was, from the front of the bench to the end you had pure verterans that succeeded in college.
Think about it, there are no more career records being broken in college, go figure??
July 12th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
Chris says:
“one and done” really isnt the rule. the rule is the age limit. but its good to see players like Brandon Jennings pimp the system by going to play ball overseas and get paid for one year, then declaring eligible for the NBA draft. this is America. rights are being witheld with that stupid rule which is only in place because 95% of elite high school players are african-american…
July 12th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
We-It Athletics says:
Simple solution..do like Brandon Jennings and go overseas if college is not in your plans…Imo that was the smart thing to do ..he exploited his own game before the NCAA could exploit his game and made money for himself and not big named universities…He made money for himself while learning what being a pro really is…I call it studying aboard!!! We may see this happen more and more since “One and done” is not an official rule
July 12th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Marparker says:
I like the rule because it results in a better NBA product. Its just like the luxury tax/salary cap. It’s a way to save teams from themselves. We saw what happened when 18 year olds had free reign to enter the league. Too many HS players were simply not pro worthy players nor where they ever going to be. All these kids are free to go the Brandon Jennings route. There are places where they can make money. They just won’t be as visible as if they played division 1 basketball.
July 12th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Stunnaboy09 says:
Easy solution. Remove the age limit but only for the D-League. So you can go from high school to the D-League if you want. Your still getting paid, technically in the league and other teams can scout you. Declare for the draft when you 19 and problem solved.
Or just let them come straight from high school. If they go 1 and done it really helps no-one and risks them to injury. For every bust there is a decent high school kid who’s ready for the L. This will DRASTICALLY cut down the one and dones from the league and end this whole debate.
July 12th, 2010 at 4:10 pm
evan d says:
I believe in the one and done rule. Always worked well for me, but you wouldn’t believe how pissed off my girl gets about it.
One. And. DONE.
July 12th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
the truth says:
Use the baseball rule
July 12th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
easy yeezy says:
stunnaboy is 100% right.
there should be a straight from highschool to the d-league rule put into place. giving teams the ability to use the d-league as an actual farm system for growing talent, instead of using it as a place to banish players who arent good enough to cut it in the nba.
July 12th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Ryan says:
What I dont like about a few players will be ready like Favors and John Wall but the rest of them aren’t ready at all then when could’ve stayed in college and become better players.
July 12th, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Loc says:
BS.
You can work at McDonalds when you are 18, you should be allowed to put a ball in a hoop.
Kudos to Jennings.
July 12th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Celts Fan says:
@chris – baseball has a 3 year in school rule, is that cuz there are so many blacks on the diamond? Gtfoh. The only color owners care about is green. HS guys were ruining the product. For everu LeBron or Kobe, there were 5 Korleone Youngs (not to mention guys like JR Smith who are jackasses to the point the coach insists on dumping him regardless of the talent.) The fact is, by forcing the rule, the league gets more hype around the prospects (remember the Durant/Oden debates, tyhe hype for John Wall, etc) and the guys get a chance to go play. Some will realize they’re not nearly as good as they thought and will stay and develop a better overall game and have a chance to be a long-term pro (Broy and Patrick Patterson are great examples. Roy’s openly said he almost was a preps-to-pros guy and if hed gone that route there’s no doubt in his mind hed be nowhere near as good as he is now.). Owners have realized that most HS guys you draft are a 3 year commitment. If you draft a guy high and he bombs it’s a huge mistake that takes years to realize but if you pass on the next big thing cuz you don’t wanna piss off the fans who have no clue who this hs kid is, then you look awful. It’s not fair to the fans to say, “we’re still gonna charge full price, but we’re not gonna be any better til he’s ready to contribute in 3 years.” If a guy doesn’t wanna go to school, you can go straight to the DLeague (lots of you were saying it should be like that. It is, you just get paid and enter the draft the following year) or you can go overseas and make better $$$. If you’re really good, cop insurance to protect yourself in case you get hurt in school. If you can’t play well your freshman year you shouldn’t have gone from HS anyway, but bow you’ve at least played against the next level of comp and had a chance to see that. That’s to say nothing of the personal, basketball, and maturity development that comes from being on your own the first time in college.
One final point. It’s not a right to play in the NBA. It’s a job so the employer can require whatever they want as a pre-req to get it. My sales job (which pays a hell of a lot less than millions of dollars) requires a college degree. I could talk to people and coulda done this same shit outta HS but that’s not good enough for them. Well the NBA requires your hs class to be one year beyond graduation. It aint racist. It aint unfair. They’re the ones that CTC so they make the rules. Don’t like it? Go to the DLeague or overseas. No ones forcing these guys to go to school. There are plenty of places you can get paid to ball right outta HS but the NBA isn’t one of them and they have every right to make whatever rule they want.
July 12th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Joe's Momma says:
Its okay for GM’s to pay a 7 foot center 35 million over 5 years, but paying an 18 year old 10-15 million over 3 years is crossing the line??? I don’t get why investing in a high schooler is so terrible. If it pans out, then you have an asset, if not, its another bad contract of many in the league. And no one can argue that the NBA is loosing money. Look at all the crazy contracts GM’s have handed out this offseason alone.
Playing overseas is not as cut and dry as everyone makes it out to be. Some players don’t get paid what they are contractually obligated. There are several factors, like culture shock, inadequate facilities and security, availability of qualified physicians. Playing in other leagues can be very dangerous for players.
And the whole, the NBA is a priveledge not a right??? C’mon, that is hogwash. What exactly is the prerequisite? Be one year out of high school, thats it. If a guy has the skills to play ball at the highest level, that should be the sole prereq. There are guys 27-28 that are in the NBA but are still as immature as when they were 15.
Its not like they are saying you need to acheive this GPA, or these credits. They are simply saying you cannot play until you are 19, or 1 yr removed from HS. So comparing it to as job that requires a degree is nonsense because they do not have to accomplish anything except for the 1 year removed from H.S. Getting a degree entails meeting certain goals you must reach in order to be eligible.
The NBA basically has monopoly power, there is no league in the US that can rival it. So they can make any arbitrary rules they want. If they say you have to be able to make 10 left hand layups in a row before you can join, then they can do that.
The one and done rule is basically an arbitrary rule they came up with. And it is balogna! Stern is a dictator, and no one can do anything about it.
July 12th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Celts Fan says:
@joe’s mamma – 3 counterpoints as to why the rule is good and not going anywhere:
1. the players’ association won’t get behind hs guys cuz for every unproven 18 year old you wait on to develop, you push another 28 year old fringe player out. Don’t think for a second the unions don’t value this.
2. The 1 year outta HS is to gain some maturity and perspective I’d guess. There’s the famous story of Kwame Brown’s first night in DC asking his agent or someone w/ the team (forget wjho exactly) “are you leaving?” The first night in DC cuz dude had never slept in a place by himself. Like you said, there are plenty of 28 year olds tjat act like they’re 15, but that first year outta HS, be it going off to school, heading to the D-League, or going overseas, you spread your wings and get out on your own for the first time. That year gives you a little perspective and maturity and let’s you learn – quite often the hard way – how to live on your own and be an adult (or at least how to fake it!) You can wild out a bit without having the weight of an entire franchise (and the media that accompanies it) on your back.
3. Players are assets and are very highly paid ones at that. That 1 year in college generates some hype for some guys. Ya, all of us that go to and post on sites like this know ‘em, but the casual fan woulda had no clue who guys like Kevin Durant, greg oden, derek rose, John Wall, etc. were had they been able to skip college. By playing on ESPN and in March Madness these guys generate some buzz and give casual fans an opinion and makes them care. The NBA doesn’t care about people like us. They know hardcore hoopheads’ $$$ is a given. They need the casual fans’ $$$ to turn a profit.
Also, the prerequisite is that HS is a level below the DLeague, EuroLeague, and NCAA which is a level below the NBA. That 1 year allows scouts to see prospects (perspective employees basically) perform against the tier below the NBA instead of having to guess how guys will do jumping up and skipping a step.
July 12th, 2010 at 9:57 pm
dagwaller says:
I’m all for it.
The NBA needs to protect its interest: quality of game. As Austin said, GMs were just drafting based on potential waaay too much. Just imagine Lance Stephenson, Derrick Caracter, and Greg Oden getting drafted #1 overall because they didn’t have to play a single game before the NBA. Oh, wait…
July 13th, 2010 at 12:17 am
samk says:
HEY DIme guys when i visit your website via Chrome and a few times on firefox it says there are threats detected from my virus scanner.
July 13th, 2010 at 12:49 am
YpsiRickitheDragon says:
I think its a good rule for the NBA because teams get to evaluate prospects for a year of college/overseas/DLeauge. It makes the Kwame Brown mistake less likely. It also gives the players a year to mature physically and mentally. It also give these young players a chance to make $ at a young age like they can in baseball or hockey.
Two years or more would be to much.
Shout to to Brandon Jennings for going overseas for a year.
July 13th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Ian says:
its stupid either make em go to college 4 years or let them play outta junior high if they wanted to.