Jordan Tyler

SPM 205

Professor Kim

October 26, 2017

Why NBA Athletes Should Be Drafted Out of Highschool

Identified as the national governing body for basketball in the United States, the

National Basketball Association (NBA) exercises the power and authority to determine policy

regarding membership and eligibility. Jimmie Kaylor with the The Sports Cheat Sheet explains

how in 2005 the NBA utilized this position of basketball governance to adopt a set of rules...

that stated that to be eligible for the NBA Draft, players must be 19 years old and be at least

one year removed from high school (Kaylor). This rule became known as the one-and-done

rule because exceptional high school athletes would play one season in college and get drafted.

This led to new problems within the basketball realm of the National Collegiate Athletic

Association (NCAA). Once put into practice, the new guideline received backlash from the

NCAA, fans, and players alike. The NBA should lift the age restriction to enable high school

graduates to be drafted immediately post-graduation as current protocol is harmful to the

league, the NCAA and primarily, the young elite athletes themselves.

More than a decade post the implementation of the NBAs one-and-done rule, the

severe ramifications of its enforcement are evident. This past June, The Washington Post

reported that NBA Sports Commissioner, inclined that both the league and the NBA Players

Association want to change the leagues age-limit entry rule further adding Its not working,

certainly from the college coaches and athletic directors I hear from ...theyre not happy with
the current system. And I know our teams arent happy (Kilgore). The guidelines were put in

place to protect athletes who were not yet ready for the professional league - and, to promote

education. The one-and-done rule de-incentivizes elite athletes who supposedly need more

time in college to develop their abilities to stay in school. This in addition to the fact that the

athletes abandon their educations; degrees they likely did not truly intend to pursue in the first

place, proves the rule to be ineffective in what is was put in place to do.

The argument against eliminating the guideline remains, as David Gardner from the

Bleacher Report articulates: the NBA will be diluted with high school busts (Gardner). As he

further goes on to explain with statistics, history has proven otherwise.The decade preceding

the NBA implementation of the one-and-done rule saw only 39 players in total drafted from

high school out of the 11 drafts that took place during those years. Out of those drafted 10

were a part of All-NBA teams or All-Star NBA teams on at least one occasion if not more. Among

these drafts was the iconic black mamba who reigned in retirement recently after a

phenomenal career. Kobe Bryant was drafted in 1996 to the Hornets, although acclaimed his

adoration through his success with the Lakers. Jason Alsher, also with The Sports Cheat Sheet,

describes how the 18-time All Star player saw 33,412 career points [which] put him at No. 3 on

the NBA all-time scoring list (Alsher) during his 13-year career. Many athletes who were

drafted straight out of high school, saw unprecedented success in their careers.

Perhaps the most important reason the one-and-done rule needs to see its last day, is

the reality that the current guideline hurts the NCAA significantly, while the one-and-done

athletes provide little value for the damage they induce. Elite high school athletes go into

college expecting to only play a single season and attain the bare minimum of credits to be
within good academic standing. When these athletes typically choose to take these credits in

physical education classes, their schedules almost identically resemble professional athletes

with the rigorous constant training; the difference? Collegiate athletes do not get paid. The

reality of intense athletic games such as basketball is that professional athletes, typically, do not

have extensive careers. With such short career lifespans and such a high salary, college athletes

hold close to no incentive to spend money to further pursue a degree before they are drafted

and offered a contract. This has a tendency to demolish college basketball rosters nearly

annually leaving the NCAA struggling.

As soon as players are eligible for the draft, they drop out of college to pursue

professional basketball. This ruins collegiate programs for athletes who actually do need to

utilize the college time. Freshman athletes are not necessary for the survival of the collegiate

league and the constant influx and out flux of players has prevented teams as a whole from

developing chemistry working together. It is obvious these athletes are better off being drafted

out of high school. The current guidelines have proven to not only be ineffective, but also

unanimously condemned by all involved.

 Bibliography

Alsher, Jason. The 7 Best NBA Players to Come Straight From High School. The Cheat Sheet,

SportsCheatSheet, 1 Aug. 2017, www.cheatsheet.com/sports/the-7-best-nba-players-who-

came-in-straight-from-high-school.html/?a=viewall.

Gardner, David. High School Players May Soon Return to the NBA Draft, & That's Good for the

NCAA. Bleacher Report, Bleacher Report, 2 June 2017, bleacherreport.com/articles/2713174-

high-school-players-may-soon-return-to-the-nba-draft-thats-good-for-the-ncaa.

Kaylor, Jimmie How the NBA Can Fix College Basketball's One and Done Problem.The Cheat

Sheet, SportsCheatSheet, 15 Feb. 2016, www.cheatsheet.com/sports/heres-how-the-nba-can-

fix-the-ncaas-one-and-done-problem.html/.

Kilgore, Adam. Adam Silver Wants to Blow up the NBAs Age-Limit Rule. The Washington Post,

WP Company, 1 June 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2017/06/01/adam-

silver-wants-to-blow-up-the-nbas-age-limit-rule/?utm_term=.f7421e15a639.