Until 2005, high school players were eligible to get drafted into the NBA after they finished high school. In 2005, that all changed, once the league changed the minimum age requirement from 18 to 19. The phrase ‘one and done’ came unanimous with the NBA draft, but that might change now. The NBA is in progressive talks and debates about changing the minimum age requirement in the NBA from 19 to 20, basically eliminating high school and ‘one and done’ players from eligibility. The NBPA doesn’t like that at ALL.
Michele Roberts, the NBPA Executive Director, says that the NBA should be happy with the ‘one and done’ policy. The unions general counsel pushed it even further with his comments in the associated press:
“If they were white and HOCKEY players they would be out there playing. If they were white and baseball players they would be out there playing,” Kohlman said. “Because most of them are actually African-American and are in a sport and precluded from doing it, they have to go into this absurd world of playing for one year.
“That’s just total complete hypocrisy.”
The new CBA isn’t until 2017, so both parties will have some time to negotiate, but the NBPA is good to starton the completely other side of the spectrum and suggest that they want to lower the minimum age requirement to 18, where it was in 2005. In my opinion, the NBA should stick to the ‘one and done’ rule. High school is a little bit too early for an NBA player, because at that point, some players maturity is questioned.
