Do you think the NBA should get rid of the Age limit Rule?

Question

With the first year of the NBA age limit ending do you think it is worth while. Is it neccessary to waste scholorships on players who are sure fire 1 and doners like Greg Oden and Kevin Durant or is it just fine the way it is.

Answer 1

The Age rule is pointless, either you are good enough for the NBA or you are not.

The rule should be you can enter the draft whenever you are ready and if you don't get drafted you can go/return to college no harm no foul.

Their using the NCAA as a minor leagues it's time for them to act like one.

All the age rule does is ROB players of prime basketball years that they will never get back. Take a LeBron James who was an instant 20 point scorer and put up over 30 in the NBA level while he was still at a college age level.

He's dominating the NBA level he wouldn't have benefited at all from the inferior players in college.

As for the current rule and "wasting scholarships" the exposure these schools get from these top players clearly outways that. I mean ESPN is talking about Oden and Durant everyday. Otherwise these colleges aren't talked about even half as much.

Lets look at the highschool players in the NBA. Garnett, Kobe, McGrady, LeBron, Howard, and older players like Amare. Not to mention the lesser talaents who have gone in the lottery with guaranteed money, become starters, and have stayed in the league for years.

Can anyone think of a legit highschool talent who was 1 and done and quickly out of the league with no future?

You have to actually have the talent to go pro early if you aren't hearing LOTTERY pick you should go to college. IF you are you are ready to play, can get more out of it in the NBA than 30 games against inferior talent.

Growing up how would you improve more; as a 8th grader playing with highschool kids or an 8th grader playing against elementary kids?

NBA players (good ones) have 10-15 years in this league why try to take away some of these years by making them go to college?

Answer 2

hmmm this is a toughie. i mean i can understand why the nba would want guys to get a higher education when the have the chance, but there are some guys out there who just dont want to go that route. sure, basketball isnt going to last you longer than your late 30's to possibly 40's even, but i can honestly say that for some people getting a higher education isnt everything. i know a lot of guys who have a passion for basketball so much that they could play it for as long as their body cant take it anymore. and im sure there are a bunch of pros out there who feel that way and have no regrets on choosing not to attend college.

when you look at the world of professional sports, every year professional athletes get younger and younger. its not just in basketball where you have guys coming straight out of high school. look at tennis players who mostly start out really young at ages 14 or 15 and then retire once they're around 35. some become huge names and then there are those who dont. a lot of kids have dreams of becoming a professional whatever and usually try to make that dream happen when they are very young. and then once they retire, they're set for life anyway so even though they skipped college at least money will never become an issue.

so i guess what im trying to say is that ultimately it is a person's decision whether or not they want to pursue a career in professional sports or go to college. i never agreed with the whole age limit thing in the first place because for some people becoming a pro athlete isnt all about the huge salary.

Answer 3

No actually I think they should extend it. Players are still coming in too young for this game, and not mature enough for the rigors of a NBA schedule. Tips to make the NBA a better game

1. Minimum of 2 years in college.
2. Limit number of international players each year. Their better than us at an earlier age.
3. No more expansion. Expansion in the late 80's and early 90's watered down the talent pool, thus bringing HS players, internationals, and the NDBL. Without expansion we could have had MJ playing with KG or even Vince.
4. Allow coaches more power, too many spoiled players that wont win a damn thing (Marbury) due to the fact that they're too busy reading their own press.
5. Stop with the guaranteed contracts. Make this league pay for play like the NFL so that guys play hard every night. You should be able to cut a player with no obligation to pay him anything, and it will make them listen to the coach.
6. Most importantly...market our game to our people. Going overseas gives the message that the NBA only wants our money not our players.

Answer 4

No. Almost every highschooler gone pro sits on the bench and learns for his first 3 or 4 years before really contributing ( with the exception of LeBron and Dwight Howard). Why not go to college and actually play and maybe copy Carmelo and lead your team to a title? I know that the NBA dishes out the dough, but the league did the right thing by making an age rule because it is just not worth paying all that money to a teenager that is still not full grown. Go to college and learn something.

Answer 5

There is an article about Livingston, the player who tore up his knee. He was a player right out of high school. I personally think the rule is good for the young players, you get teenagers playing against veteran men, granted, some are capable of handling the pro game and it's relentless schedule, ie: LeBron , but most, not the case.... besides, since when did an education and a free one at that, ever hurt someone. As for A I , he's the one that made the original John Thompson retire. He stated that if he couldn't keep his players in school, he wasn't doing his job. I think Oden is big enough to handle the pro game, Durant, well, in my opinion, he might as well get used to being pushed around. Besides, Oden looks like he's been a pro before with that ugly mug. hahaha

Answer 6

i think its a fantastic idea. too many players come out of high school and try to make it in the nba thinkin theyre good enough. when it falls through for them they go to europe or end up playing ball over the world.

an age restriction would allow athletes the opportunity to get a degree, to play basketball at a college level and to get the skills needed to succeed. kobe, tmac, jermaine o neil and garnett all struggled when they came into the L. with the exception of lebron, players dont make it right away.

players need to have some academic skills to back up their playing abilities. with scholarships most athletes can get a free ride through college, get a degree and still make it into the nba with a solid 3-4 years of college basketball.

remember, nba players are a lot different to 16-18 year olds high school players are used to.

finally, wat happens to the high school player who has a career ending injury in his first year in the nba? what do they do then? having a degree will ensure they have a future outside of basketball

Answer 7

Well, I think that Coach Knight was correct in saying that these people would probably benefit more in an education if this rule wasn't in tact. I think that the rule should be that all kids who wanna play in the NBA should have at least 2 or 3 years in college. Or at least prove that they would be in college for more than just one semester. I think that these kids need to stay in college just because some of these kids need something to fall back on, I mean, not EVERYBODY can be the next Lebron or Kobe. I mean, some of them might ride the bench for years before they see any action and they're screwed. So, kids, go to college and get your edumacation.

Answer 8

Basketball doesn't last forever. Force the young person to go to college to take advantage of his scholarship at a top college. He will learn the game better and be prepared better for life. A highschooler that wants to go straight to the nba is a fool. he will still have a great career if he starts at 21 instead of 18.

Answer 9

That is a very hard question to answer. One side of the argument states that the new NBA age rule is bad for the collegiate game. Another side states it is better for college basketball in the long term. Yet a third side states it is a mixed bag.

From my personal perspective, I think that the new age limit in the NBA, while it is a good step it is not nearly strict enough. The NFL age limit rules state specifically that an individual must be at least three years removed from high school in order to even enter their name into the NFL draft (simply put it they have to have played collegiate football at least three years following their high school graduation to even be put into consideration).

The NBA for years have not had such a rule making easier for guys who have barely graduated from high school and in recent years litterally old enough to be my younger sister's boyfriend (as Greg Oden [who actually just turned 19 in January] and Kevin Durant were born the same year as my sister except Durant is only a month younger that she is) to enter the draft.

My point is that the NBA has a good start in making the professional men's game better in the long term. They just need to make it more stringent but that is just my opinion. Oden actually stated last year according to the Parade magazine that either way he was going to go to college. And as for Durant, it has been reported that he is extremely team oriented and an individual with a very strong work ethic. I have seen very few highlights in terms of their talent scale so I cannot fairly critique their "readiness" for the rigors of the NBA. But I can say that if I were them, I would probably give myself at least one or two more years of college because there is much to be discovered on both their parts the degree of their potential to be supreme talents to be talked about for years to come.

I just have a feeling especially since both of them have the potential to be extremely special talents and they still have much to prove (particularly Durant whose Texas Longhorns did not make it past the second round) in terms of the collegiate game they just might stay in college for at least another year. Oden has the potential in another two or three years to be the next great American true center (ala Shaquille O'Neal, Bill Russell, etc.). So he should definitely stay and improve on his already high degree of talent and obtain a college degree in the process. Durant if he does decide to go to the NBA for whatever reason, could potentially become the next great talent but like all special talents he could also use another year at least of training at the collegiate level. That way should they enter the draft in 2009 when Oden will have been 21 that January and Durant is 20 going on 21, they will have the mental and physical mindset to be amazing talents at the professional level.

Besides both of them have turned out to be extremely coachable individuals or else their teams would have been worse off for having them as members of their respective teams. They are not "troubled" nor "troublesome" individuals known for hanging out with the wrong type of individuals. They ultimately have to choose to do what is right for them so it is hard to tell on what they might decide.

Answer 10

i think they should extend. College is for education and extending your career not athletics...that is an opportunity. This will also make them do better in High School to have the grades to make it to college and not just depend on there athletic talent. What happens if they go pro and break there leg and can't recover...what will they do the rest of there lives besides flipping burgers?