Read the opposing argument from Bleacher Fan and Babe Ruthless.
The NBA has certainly made an effort to improve its image. I was personally glad when the NBA set a mandatory dress code for its players several years ago. Quite frankly, the NBA was beginning to earn a reputation as a league of thugs. The dress code went a long way in slowing that trend down in my opinion. There have also been other methods suggested to improve the overall image of the league, as well as the overall quality of the play. One of those ideas was the focus of yesterday’s debate.
As it stands now, players are allowed to enter the NBA at the ripe old age of 19, as set forth in 2005. The goal of this was to slow the “watering down” of the league’s talent. In other words, many high school players jumped to the league that weren’t ready. Take a look at the list of players who have gone pro straight out of high school. There are some notable names, like those mentioned by Bleacher Fan, and some other notables I had forgotten about like Amar’e Stoudemire and Jermaine O’Neal. There’s also some notable players who haven’t done so well, guys like Kwame Brown and Darius Miles. And then there’s a whole list of guys you have probably never heard of.
LeBron James averaged 20.9 points per game during his rookie season and helped engineer a quick turnaround for the Cleveland Cavaliers franchise. Dwight Howard is another positive example. He averaged a double-double during his rookie season, averaging 12 points per game and ten rebounds per game. He’s the youngest player in the NBA ever to do that. He also started all 82 games that season. To me, Howard’s accomplishment is quite telling. To average a double-double just one year removed from high school is remarkable. It’s one thing to score a lot of points, and guys like James are to be commended for doing so as rookies.
Bleacher Fan highlighted some of the accomplishments of the “high school” players in their first few seasons in the league. But to average double digit rebounds against very physical frontline players on a nightly basis like Howard did shows that talent indeed should have no age limitations.
Bleacher Fan also brought up the fact that having four years of collegiate playing experience does not necessarily improve a player’s chances of making it as an NBA player. Ed O’Bannon is the perfect example. He led his UCLA Bruins to the NCAA championship, and now… you’d be hard pressed to find anyone under the age of 25 who even recognizes that name. As both arguments stated, having playing time in college didn’t exactly help out Ron Artest, as he was in the center of the league’s most glaring disaster of the past decade.
Babe Ruthless does correctly say, however, that 19-year old kids aren’t necessarily ready for the rigors of the NBA lifestyle. That may well be the case for many of the kids. But no one is forcing the teams to draft these players. It is up to the organizations to do their due diligence and decide if drafting these kids is the right thing to do. From a player’s standpoint, if they have done their own due diligence and feel they are ready to step up to the professional ranks with a high school degree, then who are we to prevent that from happening? However, they must do so knowing the trade offs and risk. They will not have a college education to fall back on if the NBA doesn’t work out.
Bleacher Fan is awarded the victory.
Posted by Loyal Homer 
