NBA Draft 2012: David Stern's Quest to Increase Age Limit Wrongs Players
David Stern wants to strip young men of the right to earn a living in the NBA until they are 20 years old. This should not be something the league regulates.
Stern clearly does not agree. The NBA commissioner spoke to the press while at a Sprint store to promote NBA's "green week." He was quoted by the Associated Press and it comes to us via ESPN. Stern:
"We would love to add a year, but that's not something that the players' association has been willing to agree to.
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The NBA first instituted the current 19-year-old age limit for American-born players in 2005 and Stern has been looking to increase it ever since.
He offered a glimpse of his reasoning for the age limit at the same event and was quoted in the same article. Stern:
"It's that we say we would like a year to look at them and I think it's been interesting to see how the players do against first-class competition in the NCAAs and then teams have the ability to judge and make judgments, because high-ranking draft picks are very, very valuable.
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So what Stern seems to be saying here is that he wants to prohibit players from entering the draft to protect his business. While this is the NBA's right, it does not mean it is morally correct.
Why This Is Wrong
When a player is good enough to be drafted by the NBA and receive the nice payday that comes with it, they must be allowed to do so. It is not right to keep them from earnings they may never have a chance to recoup.
What if any of these guys miss a chance at being drafted and suffer a career-threatening injury in the process?
And who cares if teams blow their selection and draft someone that doesn't work out? That is their own risk and the nature of the draft. That is no reason to keep people from the payday they've earned.
It should be the individual's choice when to enter the draft. They alone should weigh the pros and cons of entering the best basketball league on the planet.
Teams can then decide if they want to spend a "very, very valuable" pick on an 19 or 20-year-old player. The league should remove itself from that process.
