David Stern and Mark Cuban all out against 1 and done rule for Draft – NBA Update
David Stern, commissioner of NBA and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban have reiterated about adding one more year before a player can become eligible to be drafted into the league. Stern and Cuban have differed over a lot of topics
in yesteryears but they stand united when it comes to getting rid of one-and-done trend with NBA draft.
The prerequisite of said rule are that a player should be of 19 years of age and a year out of high school. That is why the lottery is oozing with juveniles coming off their fresh man season each year.
Stern reiterated that a player must have a minimum of two years at college before he can turn pro as NBA is not a social program it is a business.
“We would love to add a year, but that’s not something the players’ association has been willing to agree to. Our rule is that they won’t be eligible for the draft until they are 19”.
Cuban went a step further, suggesting extending it to 3 years after their high school class graduates to become eligible for consideration.
“I just think there's a lot more kids that get ruined coming out early or going to school trying to be developed to come out early than actually make it”. Mark Cuban said. “I just think there's every good reason to do it, which
is obviously why we didn't do it”.
The level of college basketball game has been elevated and normally if a player is performing consistently he will get his chance eventually. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James would have been as great as they are now if they were drafted
after college.
The problem doesn’t lie with the interval it lies with the temptation and allurement, the money and fame associated with a game. After being drafted into the NBA fame and wealth skyrocket. It has reciprocity for the franchise and
the player, the team gets an enthusiastic youngster who can be stretched to any limits in minimum cost and the player gets the dream job of his life.
One cannot undermine the socio-economic aspects related with this process, most of the African American players belong to modest families and they don’t hold a substantive record in academia as well. For them passing high school
and performing consistent in the game is a key to success.
Now by placing such conditions will have adverse effects, as in the American society one is eligible to join army or any other field at the age of 18 then why not basketball.
However what Stern and Cuban tried to imply has also deep implications, they wanted to eliminate the risk associated with the drafting straight out of the high school or during the high school. What if a player fails after being
drafted, his choices are narrowed down and the gate way back into the school and regular studies is shut for ever.
Lenny Cooke was on such example, he was a New York high school star but he never played a single game after being drafted in NBA in 2002.
So it is better that they stay a year or two more in the college and then try their luck in the world of NBA.
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