Read the opposing argument from Babe Ruthless.
According to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who wants the NBA to up its minimum age requirement to 21, players like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, and Tracy McGrady were unprepared and too immature for professional basketball when they were drafted.
Kareem refers to his college experience as helping him to develop both physically and emotionally. That fact may have been true for him, but that does not mean it is true for the entire league. You can’t blame youth, for example as being the culprit for players demanding multi-million dollar contracts. For that, you must blame the market. I can assure you that LeBron James would be demanding the highest contract in this upcoming offseason whether he played college ball or not. Why? Because he is good enough to demand it!
Playing basketball does not require a college degree. If a player does not NEED a college education to play the game, then why require it?
There is also no guarantee that a college education will bring maturity. Latrell Sprewell played college ball from 1988-1992. How did that help HIS maturity? Ron Artest played college ball from 1997-1999. Clearly, college isn’t doing THAT much to help with developing a player emotionally!
As far as physical maturity goes, Ed O’Bannon led his UCLA Bruins on to the NCAA Championship, came out of college as a top-ten draft pick, and then was out of the league in two years. Likewise, players like Adam Morrison and Michael Olowokandi had very successful college careers and entered the NBA with a great deal of expectation, only to disappoint. Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant skipped college, hit the NBA running, and is on track to be one of the greatest players of all time.
Some athletes will excel in the NBA, others will struggle. That fact is just as true for 19-year-olds as it is for 23-year-olds.
The NBA cannot dictate the terms of attitude and emotional maturity for the players that come into their league. Instead, they can only dictate the terms for whether or not a player is qualified to compete in the NBA.
Consider the shared accomplishments of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, LeBron James, and Tracy McGrady in their seasons before they were old enough for Kareem to deem them prepared:
- SIX All-Star selections
- ONE NBA Championship
- ONE Rookie of the Year Award
- ONE All-NBA First Team selection
- TWO All-NBA Second Team selections
- ONE All-NBA Third Team selection
If that is Kareem’s perception of being UN-prepared, then he may need to rethink his expectations of preparedness!
Kareem’s proposed vision of the NBA is one that today would still not include Derrick Rose or Kevin Durant (both of whom have already earned All-Star selections). Likewise, it would have shaved three years off of Moses Malone’s Hall of Fame career.
The fact is that NBA success has little, if nothing at all, to do with age. Players don’t go to bed on the night before their 21st birthday and suddenly wake up the next morning NBA-ready. If Michael Jordan decided to skip college and join the professional ranks out of high school, he would have been JUST as successful.
For the NBA to up its minimum age requirement to 21, a STRONG case would have to be made that younger athletes simply are not capable of competing in the professional ranks until they have developed themselves – both physically and mentally – through several years of college or international play.
Unfortunately, that case cannot be made when guys like Garnett, Bryant, and James CONTINUE to perform as the best players in basketball. They (along with many others) have already proven that success can be achieved for players YOUNGER than 21.
You can talk about the ideals of player maturity and development. You can argue about the values of the college experience and the need for something to fall back on if the NBA doesn’t work out for you. What you can’t, do is deny the fact that the BEST players in the game today skipped college and found success IMMEDIATELY in the NBA.
The choice is simple. Either allow for the possibility of a player being drafted too early or outright deny the possibility of a superstar in the making from stepping on the court – EVEN when history has proven -that 18- and 19-year-olds are fully capable of success in the NBA.
I don’t know about you, but if the only price for getting players like LeBron, Kobe, and KG into the league as soon as they are ready is that Kosta Koufos ALSO gets to come along, then bring on Koufos!
I agree but something has to be done about the mockery one and done is doing to college basketball!I think the players and coaches know when there is a good chance the player is only staying one year.It makes a joke of the NCAA’s “student-athlete”phrase.
Are you saying that college basketball is just a more high-profile NBADL where the players get paid less (if they play for a coach besides Calipari)?