Read the opposing argument from Bleacher Fan.
The NBA has taken huge strides to improve its image, yet it seems to intentionally undermine these efforts with its current minimum age requirement. Under the current collective bargaining agreement a player can enter the NBA at the age of 19.
Let us examine that age for a minute. The average 19-year-old American male has held a driver’s license for less than five years. They have been eligible to vote and purchase cigarettes for just one year. And they still cannot legally purchase alcohol for another two years. Does the individual I just described sound like they are responsible enough to handle a multimillion dollar job? Especially considering that their position makes them a role model to kids throughout the country? I think not.
When I was 19-years-old I was a rowdy frat boy whose only concern was going to parties, chasing women, and video games, but at least I went to college. The argument could be made that NBA players without college experience can boast even less maturity. Is that really the image that NBA commissioner Stern wants to portray? If so, we could have just stumbled across the NBA’s next marketing campaign, “The NBA. Young hoodlums playing a professional sport.” Or, better yet, “The NBA. Our players may not be old enough to shave… but, hey we have a dress code.”
A player can go prep-to-pro in the NBA and miss out on the maturation process that college basketball provides. The college experience allows players to develop athletically and personally. Now I know that playing college basketball does not immediately qualify a player as a consummate professional and an ambassador for the sport (see Ron Artest and Allen Iverson), but it certainly does nothing to hurt the development of their character. College teams emphasize team work, camaraderie, and loyalty, qualities that seem to be increasingly less prevalent in a NBA landscape dominated by monster free agent contracts and contract holdouts. It seems that if the NBA wants to sell itself as a legitimate sports franchise it should raise the minimum age requirement to 21.
Recently, basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar stated that he thought “even [LeBron] James would have benefited from college.” He went on to state that he thinks college would have completed and polished LeBron’s already well-rounded game. Can you imagine the potential? Seriously, if LeBron’s skills could have been elevated by college, are there any LeBron fans out there that would oppose that? I honestly do not see the down side to taking efforts to maximizing players’ potential talent.
One of the largest arguments against a minimum age in basketball is it that it steals away valuable money making years and economic opportunities from a player. That may be true, but I do not think the NBA wants the public to perceive money as the driving force behind the league. Sure the players and agents would probably baulk at anything that reduces big paydays for players, but making the game about the game, instead of the money, may actually endear it to the fans. I have never heard a fan say, “Boy these players simply aren’t being paid to play early enough.” Increasing the minimum age of NBA players to 21 is the right move for the players, the fans, and the NBA – even if they don’t know it yet.
CML Pro Sports…
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