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October 28th, 2009 - byThe NBA collective bargaining agreement is coming to an end in the next year and already attention is being focused on the NBA age limit that was instituted in 2005. Many applauded the rule when it was put in place, hoping the immaturity we had come to expect from NBA rookies would cease. Others were happy that these talented youngsters would be forced to attend a year of college to learn how to manage their future finances. Some were just happy to see college basketball get a boost with some star power like Greg Oden and Derrick Rose. Four years later, many of the former cheerleaders for the rule have revised their position.
The New York Times ran on op-ed piece by Buzz Bissinger calling for an end to the rule.
One thing is clear: raising the minimum age to 19 hasn’t helped the players in any way. Superstars may go to college for a year, but for most it has nothing to do with getting an education. As the legendary coach Bobby Knight has pointed out, these players can retain their first year’s college eligibility without ever going to a class after their first semester.
If David Stern truly cared about his players’ well-being, he would advocate that all the silliness over the sanctity of the college academic experience stop and that N.B.A.-bound players get some share of the millions of dollars they generate: in the greatest capitalistic society in the history of the world, this may be the greatest inequity.
And if the N.C.A.A. truly cared about improving colleges instead of settling for the extra year before eligibility that Stern is talking about, it should use its considerable influence to demand that both the N.B.A. and N.F.L. foot the college’s bill for training pro athletes by paying a given amount each year for each player successfully drafted from college. The money would go into a fund for academic scholarships at the colleges these players attended. It wouldn’t perhaps turn young superstars into student-athletes, but in today’s hideous economic times, it might turn some deserving teenagers into students.
Sports Illustrated’s Seth Davis reacted with his own piece on the rule.
Personally, I always opposed the age minimum, even though it has been an unmistakable boon to college basketball, the sport that helps me feed my kids. Yes, I know there are issues of academic integrity when kids are spending basically a semester and a half on campus, but from a purely marketing and business standpoint, would anyone argue that college hoops would have been better off the last few years if Greg Oden, O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love hadn’t spent a year on campus? But I opposed the rule from a standpoint of basic fairness. Kids have a right to make the best choices for themselves, even if they made the wrong decisions. There is obviously a market for their services, and they should have the right to test it.
A third-way rule has emerged from many circles in college basketball, and it is not a bad idea: Allow high school players to declare for the draft, but if they go to school, they have to go for two years. But based on my conversations with Hunter, I think that will be a tough sell. His theory is that the real motivation behind the rule was -– surprise! –- money. If a player comes into the league when he’s older, that shaves time off the back end off of his contract, where he is making the biggest money. At any rate, the NBA and NBAPA are about to head into a very dicey negotiation for their next collective bargaining agreement, which will be complicated by the severe economic climate. If Hunter keeps his back up, I have a hard time imagining David Stern pushing this issue at the expense of the more pressing ones.
If the third-way rule isn’t adopted, I agree with Bissinger that the age minimum should be dropped. There is actually a much more simple solution to this conundrum. If David Stern really doesn’t want these young kids in his league, he should tell his teams to stop drafting them.
I take the same stance as Coach Knight. An end to the rule just means another spot for a real student athlete who wants a college education as well as the opportunity to play. I’m not naive enough to think that is every player’s goal but at least the complete charade by players like Derrick rose that can’t even pass an SAT will be over.
At the very least it will be interesting to see where the NCAA fall publicly on the rule. Will the support raising the age or keeping it the same. From a dollar and cents perspective the added star power in college helps fill their coffers. However, the NCAA does suffer a black eye with each one and done that heads to the NBA only to find massive eligibility concerns behind for their former teams (OJ Mayo at USC, Derrick Rose at Memphis, John Wall at UK to name a few). What are your thoughts on the divisive issue?
