NBA Age Limit
So, you can die in the dessert of Iraq, work in a coal mine in West Virginia, earn money working on an oilrig off the coast of Texas, but you can't play professional basketball. The NBA is about to adopt a rule where a player has to be 19 and one year removed from high school to enter the draft. So much for the free market. I understand that the NBA is trying to protect its product, but this doesn't seem legal. The NFL has an age limit, but the NFL is a totally different animal and I can understand why they would have an age restriction. But the NBA?
And I don't want to hear the argument about the kids not being ready for the pressure or the money. Hell, there are a lot of kids not ready for the independence of college life. It doesn't seem like 16-year-old professional tennis stars are having a hard time with their money.
If the NBA wants to protect its product they should mandate that players have an adequate jump shot and be able to shoot free throws.
5:01 PM If the NBA wants to protect its product they should mandate that players have an adequate jump shot and be able to shoot free throws.
Amen!
7:07 PM Hey James, just going through all of your old stuff.
I disagree that it's about "an adequate jump shot".
To me, it's about play real basketball, which is about a team.
I could go on and on about how high schoolers going straight into the NBA have no concept of team hoops, but you're already aware of it.
I think where it all started was with expansion. Teams got too diluted and were weak enough so that a high schooler could actually make the team. That wouldn't have happened in the 80's, when the league was at it's strongest. (Oh, just remembered I'm talking to a Bulls fan, so you might differ on that one.)
Anyways, I don't think any one thing is going to make a difference, but at least it's an effort.