High School To The NBA?

Ching  Xie by Contributor Written on November 11, 2008
Dr_feature

So a very much debated topic is whether high school basketball stars should be allowed to jump from high school directly to the NBA. There are some things we have to consider and that’s the fact that education should be the No. 1 priority for high school kids.

 

The kid is going to high school to study and learn to graduate from high school and eventually go to college. The chances are one out of a million basketball players make it to the NBA. What if you spend you’re entire life playing ball but not make it? Where are you gonna go from there?

 

The fact is even though there is that possibility of making it to the NBA, the chances of you jumping from high school directly to the NBA are very small. Two years ago, David Stern made it official that NBA basketball players had to go through at least one year of college or reach the age of 19 before they can come to the NBA to play basketball.

 

Lebron James and Kobe Bryant were probably smiling when they found out. This new rule restricted superstars such as OJ Mayo, Michael Beasley, and Derrick Rose from jumping directly to the NBA. Could they have become superstars in their first year in the NBA like they were at their colleges? Probably not, but they would definitely have improved more than they did at college.

 

Also there’s no doubt in my mind that Derrick Rose should and would have made the jump to the NBA from high school if it weren’t for the “rule.”

 

The second thing is that for many high school basketball players, it is MANDATORY for them to go to the NBA. Some basketball players come from poor families which puts the pressure on them to go to the NBA as soon as possible for them to start earning big bucks to support their families.

 

This brought up the sad option for high school players of going to Europe to play ball for a year, make some money, and then come back to try to get drafted into the NBA the following year. Many high school basketball players are considering this option as the only way to support, not only themselves, but also their families.

 

With the lack of education, basketball is their life to some of these high school basketball players that are traveling over to Europe. Come on David Stern! You’re killing the millions of high school basketball players’ dream of jumping from high school to the NBA!

 

Think about it; how many high school players are going to actually get drafted directly to the NBA? The majority of NBA basketball players today went to college. Also if Lebron and Kobe had the chance, why can’t these players?

 

Just face the facts, if you’re good enough to jump from high school to the NBA then you should have at least the chance to do it.

Vote Now! - Author Poll

SHOULD high school basketball players be allowed to go directly to the NBA?

  • Yes
  • No
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Results - Author Poll

SHOULD high school basketball players be allowed to go directly to the NBA?

  • Yes

    78.0%
  • No

    22.0%
  • Total votes: 200
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written on November 11, 2008 Opinion

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