(ThyBlackMan.com) The 2017 NBA Draft has come and gone and there was plenty of young talent selected to help change the fortunes of the NBA organizations that selected them. Sixteen college freshmen were selected in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft. Many of those college freshmen chosen would have likely never went to college had they had the ability to enter the NBA following their graduation from high school. However, they had to make the pit stop to college before entering the NBA Draft because of the NBA eligibility rules. Since the 2006 NBA Draft, high school players have not been allowed to enter the NBA right after graduating high school. Of course, it hasn’t always been that way and leads to questions as to why basketball players are being limited in their ability to earn a living in the NBA after graduating high school.
In order to enter the NBA and the NBA Draft, all drafted players must be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft and must be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class. This is according to the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association. This has been in place since 2005. Despite the successes of former high
school stars turned NBA greats like Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, and LeBron James, the owners in the NBA wanted to restrict the ability of highly touted prep basketball players to enter the NBA for a variety of reasons. At the time, NBA commissioner David Stern wanted NBA scouts and general managers out of high school gyms scouting high level talent that was considering entering the NBA. Stern also thought that too many young urban Americans were looking at the NBA as a viable avenue to financial security for their families and a quick path to stardom for themselves. The social component of the NBA’s age limit should not be understated.
The NBA is a black sports league. It is the most black sports league in America. Over 75 percent of the athletes in the NBA are black which is by far the highest percentage of athletes compared to professional sports leagues like the NFL, NHL, and Major League Baseball. Both the NHL and Major League Baseball allow athletes enter their professional sports leagues right after graduating high school. The NFL doesn’t mostly because of the physical demands and the physical nature of the NFL as vastly different to any high school football player would face. However, the NBA has had numerous successful NBA players who never stepped unto a college campus and decided to put in an age limit in 2005 that adversely affects black athletes in a black sport.
When the age limit was put into place, former NBA star Jermaine O’Neal, who entered the NBA out of high school, made a point of the racial component of the age limit that the same criticism isn’t leveled against baseball or hockey players entering their sports out of high school, which are mostly predominately white sports. Of course, the opposite argument is that baseball and hockey has true minor leagues for developing talent while the NBA lacks the same type of minor league system. But somehow even NBA players like Lou Williams, Al Jefferson, Monta Ellis, and J.R. Smith have had lengthy NBA careers despite entering the NBA out of high school that didn’t have a true minor league system.
The NBA age limit is now a big question mark again because of the sheer number of freshmen who enter the NBA Draft on an annual basis. Current NBA commissioner Adam Silver is considering a possible adjustment the NBA age limit. However, he will likely face even stricter opposition from the National Basketball Players Association this time including NBPA president Michele Roberts. This is a significant issue facing the NBA.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines
