HS to Pros are coming to an end

[COOLmac©]

no more highschoolers in nba, and thats the bottomline!
cause STERNCOLD said so!

i'm torn apart in either agreeing with Sterncold or not agreeing with him...it all depends on the situation though

[Andrew]

I'm with Jeffx and Jae. Even though there have been busts, some of the top guys in the league right now came straight out of high school. Moses Malone, the very first player to make the bold move enjoyed a long and successful career. And it's not as though college prevents players from becoming busts. It does of course provide them with alternatives if professional basketball doesn't work out, but if that's not the route a person wants to go, it's unfair to make them take that route.

That said, it's worth encouraging highschoolers to think twice before declaring. If teams are only going to take guys who stand a good chance of playing well at an NBA level - as LeBron was - young players with potential but not necessarily much development aren't going to be so keen to make the jump, forfeiting their college eligibility.

I also agree that an affiliation between NBDL and NBA clubs would also be a good solution. I don't think NBA clubs should be forced to send a player younger than 20 to their NBDL team, but the option would be there as well as the option to call them back up at any time. Surely that would be an agreeable solution for all parties involved.

[Jeffx]

That said, it's worth encouraging highschoolers to think twice before declaring. If teams are only going to take guys who stand a good chance of playing well at an NBA level - as LeBron was - young players with potential but not necessarily much development aren't going to be so keen to make the jump, forfeiting their college eligibility.

That's where the support system comes in, Andrew. Hopefully, these young cats are surrounded by people who truly care and will give them sound advice(family & coaches).

[Strike Freedom]

what if the HS->college players won't be able to graduate?
eg, they love playing basketball but they don't like studying.
There's a chance we'll lose those kinds of talented players, won't it?

[-BHZMAFIA-]

My teammate Pierre Niles was on the news last night and they were talking to him about entering the draft in 2006 because he is a junior now and he is 6'7 or 6'8 and weigh around 240 pounds. I don't think he is good enough to go to the NBA, but would definitely go to a great college team. His numbers this year weren't like 25 and 10 or anything like that, but they were around the 18-20 mark and 7-8 range. They had a little special on talking about Monta Ellis and Louis Williams, then they started to talk about Pierre and how he grew up in Memphis and that one of his relatives were shot right outside where he was living and had to go live with his uncle. Alot of stuff I didn't know about, and I have a feeling that college recruits are already trying to pressure him into coming to their school because he come to school with a new pair of jordans all the time as soon as they come out along with other shoes he has. On the news, they said he could be a potential lottery pick as well so I would be happy for him to make it to the NBA because itll be cool to know somebody thats in the NBA.

[Fresh8]

If the NBDL was affiliated with the NBA... the player's salaries should count against the cap because the two NBA teams are sending their reserves to form a team each... 30 divided by 2 = 15 teams.... if u get what i mean

I think this is a great idea still... but i think they said vets arent allowed to go down to play...

[Sauru]

i dont think the vets should be allowed to play. should be an age limit on the NBDL imo if its to be used for what stern wants it to be used for.

[Andrew]

An age limit sounds like a good idea. After all, Darko will only be in his early 20s when he's in his fifth season and future players who are drafted at the same age would be in the same position - thus, NBA experience alone wouldn't be a fair system.

[Strike Freedom]

-NBDL players are worse than the college players.
Why is that?

[AlwaysWhat,NeverWhy]

Here's Jermaine O'Neal providing an interesting spin to the whole deal:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylc=X ... &type=lgns

[Andrew]

Interesting perspective from O'Neal there, one that I wouldn't totally discount. His point about the military and sports is one I certainly agree with. Not to turn this into another pro-war/anti-war discussion because that's not what I'm referring to, but if an 18 year old is mature enough to be given a gun and trained to kill, I think he's mature enough to play professional sports.

[air gordon]

i hope you guys caught that segment on fastbreak where the host, greg anthony, and JO gave their thoughts on this age limit issue...

you cannot generalize that a college player is more likely to make it in the nba then a high school player. whether a player succeeds in the nba or not is a case by base situation

i would be 100% against an age limit. the nba/sten is being hypocritical. the league's 'brightest stars' and most marketed players came straight from high school

what the nba, parents, whoever need to do is educate the masses that the odds of making it in the nba are almost zero to none. and also crack down on these agents who are telling these high school players something that they really not

charles barkely had some excellent comments on this topic a few weeks back on leno or was it letterman?... something along the lines that the media/nba sends this false idea that it's easy to make it in professional sports

[VMS]

It was on NBA Fastbreak and Sportscenter this morning.

I, personally, am against any age-limit whatsoever. If this 20 year old age limit was already in place, many all-star calibur players would have 2 or so years shaved off of their careers!

Mark Jackson, Greg Anthony (both ESPN) and Jermaine O'Neal spoke out against the issue. I agree with them all too much. Surprisingly, Jermaine O'Neal was very articulate, and made a very good argument. I don't know how well they'd fare in a debate, because the only person that is for it is D. Stern and Battier.

I'd pay to see the NBA equivalent of Freddy Adu (professional soccer player from age 14).

Stern says that he wants to up the limit to 20, because there's 18 and 19 year olds that use all their focus on making it in the NBA, and neglect their family and financial responsibilities. He said, and I quote; "I don't want these kids thinking they can make it in the NBA, because they won't."

Although I think Mark Jackson is an idiot, I'll have to agree with his reason; If a team drafts a kid (under 20) and he's not ready for the NBA, that's management's fault. The kid can't prepare by himself, it's not his fault, its not the NBA's fault, its the coaches' fault.

O'Neal started his response with "As a black guy..." creating racial undertones. He clarified this morning, saying he didn't mean to imply that it is in anyway connected to racism. According to him, he said that because the NBA is a predominantly black sport, and he's right. He hasn't gotten a conversation with the commisioner yet, but I attribute this to one of two things; The Pacers-Pistons brawl, or Stern's schedule. I don't attribute anything to racism. Neither does Greg Anthony, or Mark Jackson, both ESPN analysts and phenomenal ex-NBA guards. Both are black, if it makes any difference.

In Jermaine O'Neal's words; "The NBA is doing very well. Why fix something that's not broken?"

[cyanide]

I'm a little undecided with the whole age issue. I know JO made a strong case, but I think that the problem is with other sports, and the NBA is trying to set a better example. It's good for people to get a year or two and if they enjoy it, a full 4 years of school. To me, education is very important, but I don't know if it matters if they're going to end up millionares and rich for the rest of their lives. I think the Stern side of the debate has a strong message with the message to kids that making it to the NBA is not easy.

[Andrew]

I think that the failures of the past and NBA teams getting over the whole "tremendous upside, could be great in the future but is a project for now" line of thinking could be a strong enough deterrent though. Rather than restricting everybody, make it clear to the folks who have no chance that they have no chance.

[Sauru]

i think the biggest reason why stern is trying this(right or wrong) is he wants to make the game of basketball better. now when i say better i mean, better shooting, more fundementals. players are more likely to learn this is college. i dont think it would work myself and i am against a age limit for the nba. the age limit i mentioned earlier was for the NBDL in that a players over 26 lets say could not play in it. i mean lets face it, if by 27 you still have not made it, you probably wont, so get your ass outa there and give the kids a chance.

[Amphatoast]

i like that war stuff he mention.. so true about it, while hes at it why not be able to drink when your 18 too since u can go to war...kill a few iraqis, celebrate a good dayz victory watching a pacer game with a miller beer

anyway i think its pretty good to do this. Most sports kind of have a age-limit already and the NBA dong this is good. Once again, at least getting some college experience might be good, as some might see they have the ability to do other things that could have more impact on society like find a cure for hiv. Besides, doesn't it kinda suck to be 18,19,20 and say you won championships to not be able to have a drink legally?! (darko can relate!)

i know it sounds like im all for drinking, but im not, i dont drink or anything but its just something to add to all this stuff it also might help the black community in a sense that more kids will try and get a academic scholarship to go to school ( and get educated!) and play college ball to help the college game. That brings in more fans, which means more money to the schools and possibly stop all the tuition increases which also means more children can afford to go to school!
a nice chain reaction will occur, hopefully for the good and not the bad

[Old School Fool]

Wasn't Kobe smart as hell when he was in High School? I remember hearing he owned the SAT's or something.

[Alcoholic]

In a book I read I think he had a B average. It was about him jumping from high school, saying he could have easily went to college if he wanted to, many top colleges wanted to recruit him.

[Old School Fool]

Yes he could've went to Princeton and shit.

[Sauru]

i never really liked the war arguement. you know, old enough to die not old enough to drink. there is one key difference between the 2 that people never consider. when you go to war at that age you have someone telling you what to do constantly, when you go out drinking you are left to make up your own mind. also when you go to war and get shot and killed, most likely you are dieing alone, if you go and drink the crash into someone on the way home you may be takeing a innocent with you.

now like i said before, i am against the age limit. teams dont have to draft these players. just like they dont have to draft the foreign players. if you are willing to wait a few years for a player to develop then draft him, if not no big deal, someone else surely will.