Pros / Cons of the NBA Age Limit?

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Whats up NT?

I'm working on this debate for a class and I'm supposed to make an argument on why the NBA age limit should be removed. But I'm having trouble coming up with good reasons other than that there is a risk of injury in college which can ruin a career prematurely. That and that there is no real proof that one year of college will dramatically change a basketball career.

Any help would be appreciated. Feel free to prove my points wrong. I need any help I can get
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PRO NUMBER ONE: college basketball is exponentially better
 
Pros: Better college basketball, players have a chance to mature more in college (generally speaking), plus players don't miss out on college experience, also makes them more "known" when they enter the draft, which is a plus for the NBA
Cons: Injuries can ruin a kid's chance to get drafted high, also college basketball politics
 
But for the one and done type dudes, does that one year really make that much of a difference? I mean Beasley had that one year at Kansas State and still showed questionable character.
 
Pros: weeds out fringe players that "think" they are ready at an early age
Cons: injuries, waste of time for "student" athelete
 
I think for your debate you need to differentiate between the clear one and done guys who everyone knows would be a lottery pick and the fringe guys who had been coming out in the years prior to the age limit being instituted.
 
While going to college can help reduce a player being a bust in the NBA, there are still players out of college who still are under achieved. It can help you, but its not a gurantee to make you better. Some guys just don't need it... That's why I think it should still remain an option.

The injury factor is an obvious...

Players can still go back to school for an education. I read up this past summer there were some players doing that (can't remember off the top of my head).

The NBA is also a business, not just basketball but money. Players like Telfair & Derozan (who couldn't make the jump) needed the money for family reasons. Derozans mom was real sick & had to suffer through her disease because of the age limit. Luckily she's ok now, but she wouldn't have had to go through that extra year of suffering if Derozan could've made the jump to help pay for it. Telfair also needed money for his family & situation as well. Basketball aside, players need to help their familes.

Players will also find a way to dodge the system (Brandon Jennings). So while they will inforce the rule... Guys will get around it one way or another.
 
PROs: Kobe, KG, McGrady, J.Oneal, LeBron, Howard
CONs: (insert name of straight out of high school player that sucked balls)
 
Originally Posted by tmoney85

PROs: Kobe, KG, McGrady, J.Oneal, LeBron, Howard
CONs: (insert name of straight out of high school player that sucked balls)

you miss the excitement that high school players bring to the game and in the long time it makes those nba records almost unbreakable
  
 
the biggest con about going to college if you are good enough to make a jump and be a top 10 pick is INJURY.

imagine lebron having a Shaun Livingston type of injury in college. At least if it happens in the NBA, he has that rookie contract too feed him.
 
Originally Posted by AIRJORDAN JB23



The NBA is also a business, not just basketball but money. Players like Telfair & Derozan (who couldn't make the jump) needed the money for family reasons. Derozans mom was real sick & had to suffer through her disease because of the age limit. Luckily she's ok now, but she wouldn't have had to go through that extra year of suffering if Derozan could've made the jump to help pay for it. Telfair also needed money for his family & situation as well. Basketball aside, players need to help their familes.

This is the reason why I will never ride for the age limit.
 
Why should the NBA eliminate the age rule? 18 years old is considered the official age to be an adult. And since there isn't anything physically or mentally an 18 year old can't do that a 19-20 year old can do, it is discriminatory to apply an age rule to a business that potentially accepts an employee under the age of 21.
 
you guys dont feel that talent is watered down though?

bad teams stay bad for along time cause of these "athletes"

i personally like the fact that the NFL is 3 years of college or your graduating HS class....
 
Originally Posted by damnTHOSEjs

college basketball politics
this.

too much of this RUIN some kid's future. anything from playing time to favoritism.


Thanks for the input everyone. I appreciate it.

But what do you guys mean by college bball politics? Like lack of PT holding a kid back from showing his talent?
 
Originally Posted by kklutch22

Originally Posted by damnTHOSEjs

college basketball politics
this.

too much of this RUIN some kid's future. anything from playing time to favoritism.

Thanks for the input everyone. I appreciate it.

But what do you guys mean by college bball politics? Like lack of PT holding a kid back from showing his talent?


Lack of PT (coach playing favorites, new coach and it wasnt his recruit, etc)
 
Originally Posted by AIRJORDAN JB23


The NBA is also a business, not just basketball but money. Players like Telfair & Derozan (who couldn't make the jump) needed the money for family reasons. Derozans mom was real sick & had to suffer through her disease because of the age limit. Luckily she's ok now, but she wouldn't have had to go through that extra year of suffering if Derozan could've made the jump to help pay for it. Telfair also needed money for his family & situation as well. Basketball aside, players need to help their familes.
They're relying too much on one thing ... what if he couldn't play? She probably would have had to wait 4 years for him to finish college.

Or even longer to save up enough money for her.

Everyone in the world needs to help their families, it doesn't stop with "players".
 
As it stands now, the age limit is silly. If they want to do it right, they'll make the age limit 22, or when you graduate from school. Waiting one year does nobody any good.

The NBA is a business first and foremost, and they want respectable young men in their league. By increasing the age limit they will do just that.

It's kind of hard to see a point to the age limit when the two faces of your league never went to college.
 
The biggest pro is that it keeps the talent level up and makes the game much crisper. Yes, there have been superstars coming straight out of college, but for every LeBron there's a DeShawn Stevenson, for every Kobe a Ndudi Ebi, for every JO a DeSagana Diop, etc...

As for the money they risk losing through injuries in college, most of the top guys have large insurance policies that grant them a good payday should they be unfortunate enough to get hurt in the NCAA.

Larry C o o n (how the hell does Yuku auto-censor a freaking last name?) the NBA CBA guru, actually stated this week that players are actually in favor of a higher age limit but don't come out publicly because it's a good bargaining chip when negotiating with owners. You can find the podcast where he tackles the subject in my signature.
 
--I agree with the pro that it would make college basketball better.
--At the same time I think its one of those "be careful what you ask for" type questions.
 
Yes, there have been superstars coming straight out of college, but for every LeBron there's a DeShawn Stevenson, for every Kobe a Ndudi Ebi, for every JO a DeSagana Diop, etc...

Easy. For every Tim Duncan, there's a Shavlik Randolph. For every Chris Paul. there's a Dee Brown (ILL). For every Vince Carter, there's a Kirk Snyder (probably locking dudes up in prison league right now). For every Alonzo Mourning, there's a Josh McRoberts. For every Dikembe Mutombo, there's a Tyler Hansborough. Hell, I'm running out of dudes to be the first part of the analogy (perennial all stars who went 4yrs or went 3 and came back).

Easy to be in favor of a higher age limit once you are already in the league I am sure.

How many irrelevant requirements are they going to put on these dudes?

Wear a suit to walk from the bus to the locker room and locker room to bus, bus to hotel. Graduate college or wait a couple years after higher. *##! is ridiculous.

End of the day, they play basketball in a gym. A good portion of the general public will never respect them anyways.
 
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