BenDavis503

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archiv...e_age_minimum/

I am all for it. I think 20 is a great age to come to the NBA. This means for most players, they would have to stay in college for at least 2 years. It will also make the college game more fun to watch! It sure is a lot more fun to watch now that players can't come in straight from high school.

Also, this will force more players to go to college for at least 2 years and get a better education.

I think this is a great idea. What do you guys think?

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taterz

Its a good idea for the most part, I mean most players arnt ready even at age 20. I think there should be some alternative to college though because some guys just arnt college material brains wise and giving them poofter classes isnt the answer either.

GOD

Let people run their own lives and decide if they are ready. I want to see Ricky Rubio play in the NBA before he is cemented into international play like Rudy might be. If he had to be 20, we would have to wait till the 2010 draft for Rubio when he could be successful much earlier if he were allowed to be drafted this year. Maybe he would flame out, but we should let him and the individual franchises make the decisions as to his readiness.

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andalusian

I have no problems with the NBA requiring some pre-requisites for players. Other professions do as well. What next? If someone hangs around the red cross and volunteer he can be a Doctor after graduating from high-school?

The NBA has the right to define any kind of pre-requisite they want for being an "employee" - I have no issues with it.

BenDavis503

It's not about running their own lives. You have to be 21 to drink. That doesn't mean our lives are getting run. It is just a rule.

Also, as said above, most players aren't even ready to play at 20!!! I am sick of waiting 2, 3 even 4 years for a player to develop enough skill to be ready to play at the NBA level.

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drexlersdad

i think the age limits are stupid. if you can play, you should get drafted.

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DaRizzle

While it would improve the level of play...you cant deny the kid coming out of poverty of trying to make some money for his family...what if he has a major career ending injury in college instead of the NBA where he has already signed a contract..

taterz

Problem with that is that every team is worried about missing out on the next great thing so the draft is filled with a bunch of players like Travis and Martell who could be great but need five years of development. That in turn waters down the whole league. We need a better minor league set up like baseball has. Not every player belongs in college but you cant let every schmo into the NBA who can run and jump but cant chew gum while they do it.

andalusian

This is a cute argument, but it goes both ways. What about hordes of perfectly serviceable college players that could have a good NBA career but are never drafted because someone decides to take a chance on a high-schooler by potential that turns into a bust? How many more Jamario Moons or Ime Udokas are out there that do not stick with basketball and get another chance at 27 years old?

If someone is a very good basketball player and wants to make money - there are options out there out of the NBA. Players can go to play over-seas as well for money.

The NBA, as a business, needs to protect it's interests and advance it's own good - and on general - raising the age limit will do just that. It is a private enterprise, not a government sponsored charity, after all.

DaRizzle

Scouts and GM's are trying to make their team better. Those college players you mention were not picked for a reason, it might be a wrong decision but that is part of the game, teams making good and bad decisions. The D league was made for those college players you are talking about. Age limits for example football are fine because it is a MUCH more physical sport and 18yo WR would get killed...Basketball, not so much

Minstrel

That's a completely invalid comparison. The teams are the employers; they HAVE pre-requisites about ability: is the player good enough to help the team. The league is an overarching force no other profession has except those where lives can be destroyed by unqualified practitioners.

It's like a phenom programmer out of high school being recruited by Microsoft, Apple, Google and the government requiring that no software company be allowed to hire someone unless they've attended college. How is that remotely reasonable? If the person is good enough that companies want to hire them, both the person should have the right to join the workforce and company should have the right to employ them.

I think this is an awful concept, the league forcing qualified (qualified in the most non-arbitrary manner possible: employers want to hire them) players to go to college.

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You'll never live like common people
You'll never do what common people do
You'll never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
And dance and drink and screw
Because there's nothing else to do.

BlazerCaravan

Kinda like the kid who programmed Pole Position.

I voted Yes, by the way. None of these kids are going to give anything of significant value back to society... why treat them as if their contributions have to happen now?

And Microsoft/Apple/Intel recruit the kids because they're cheap. They run 'em hard on youthful enthusiasm, accept the mistakes and rough edges, and get five great years out of them before they burn out. It's exactly the *opposite* of the NBA, where your best years are in the middle. How many 40 year old programmers still like to work 18 hour days seven days a week? Now many 20 year olds do that for fun?

In my head it's more like joining the military. The age limit is there to prevent unskilled, physically unready kids from putting themselves through something they aren't ready for. For basketball players, dealing with fame, fortune, and the road are something you have to physically and mentally prepare for, and college is the best way to do that.

I'd also like to see a special "How To Be Famous Without Losing Yourself" class for these atheletes in college. To prepare them for money management, how to tell gold-diggers from friends, how to tell well-intentioned idiots from smart people. Because these are important skills to have as a millionaire.

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The kids are all right!

Minstrel

Because it should be their right, as adults, to join companies willing to hire them.

And the idea that entertainment is not of value to society is both absurd and proven very wrong by the amount of money Americans spend on entertainment. They're voting with their dollars that entertainment has a very high value.

That's a very Big Brother view. "We're just trying to protect you from you by taking away your choices. Do as we say and you'll have a nice life."

__________________
You'll never live like common people
You'll never do what common people do
You'll never fail like common people
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
And dance and drink and screw
Because there's nothing else to do.

BlazerCaravan

The NBA is a closed, private system, not a government job. The NBA is the company. The teams are franchises.

And, the kids indeed have the right not to play in the NBA, and instead go to another basketball league.

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