I dont know about you, but after watching Game 1 between the Celtics and Bulls, and now currently watching Game 2, (CRAP!! Chicago leads by 3 at the half), I seriously think the NBA needs to change its stance on the age limit for entering the league. I am sitting here watching Derrick Rose, and while he is not having quite the game he did in Game 1, it makes me wonder why make a kid like him go to school for one year? You could say the same thing about Michael Beasley, Greg Oden, and Kevin Durant. While Rose is the only one so far to make his presence known in the playoffs, all four of these guys are extremely talented, and it is unfair to them and their "schools" to force them to go to school for only a year. I am suggesting one of two solutions, A) The NBA lowers the entry age back to 18, therefore making high school kids eligible again, or B) raise the age to 20 therefore sending these kids to school for a minimum of 2 years.
When the NBA raised the minimum age from 18 to 19, I'll admit I was ecstatic. I have never been a big fan of kids coming out of high school and going straight to the NBA, maybe its jealousy, maybe its the fact that by allowing them to enter out of high school we are devaluing the meaning of an education, or maybe its the fact that some of these kids just arent ready. For every Lebron, Kobe, Garnett and Dwight there is a Kwame Brown, Korleone Young, Darius Miles and dont forget Jermaine O'Neal. He has had a very nice career, but it took him four years to get off the bench. The point is, after having let it sink in for a few years now, I HATE IT!!! The 19 year old age limit is not so much hurting the NBA as it is college basketball. None of the players that I mentioned above had any intention, regardless of what they said, of staying past their freshman years. So instead of wasting an institutions money on a scholarship, just let these kids start making their own money.
Now if anyone reading this is a Memphis fan, clearly they will disagree with me, but seriously folks that was the exception not the rule. The only other time something like that happened, where a player made that big of an impact in his freshman year was 2003 with Carmelo Anthony at Syracuse. Also look at these schools, Syracuse and Memphis (to an extent) have solid to great basketball traditions, Kansas State on the other hand does not. If Beasley stays a second year not only does he probably get better, but the players around him get better, and who knows, the Wildcats could have made significant improvements upon the 2nd round tournament exit in 2008. Instead they had no continuity and made it to the 2nd round of the NIT.
On the flip side, if the NBA raises the age limit to 20, college basketball will see star power it hasnt seen in a long time. Could you imagine a scenario this year in which Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley and Blake Griffin battled it out for National Player of the Year. It would have happened had the age limit been 20. Not only would we see more spectacular individual performances, but the teams we root for would be MUCH MUCH better. Look at some of the teams that have won this decade, Duke in '01, Maryland in '02, UConn in 'o4, the Florida teams and the UNC teams. All of those teams had a solid nucleus of juniors and seniors. I am not saying that by raising the age limit every college basketball player will stay at least through his junior year, but the possibility is much greater. By keeping those kids on campus for a second year there is a much higher chance that they return for a third maybe even a fourth year. Perfect examples are the second Florida national championship team, and this years UNC team.
For those who argue against the second point and say the NBA has no right to deny somebody the opportunity earn a living, YES THEY DO! The NBA is a business and if it wants to put restrictions on who can and cant play they have every right to do so. The system is not perfect and it probably never will be perfect, but one year here or one year there could make a world of difference for both the NBA and the NCAA.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment