Y'all don't see the point behind the rule. The players union is trying to protect veterans jobs. Thats all their is to it. Its a business. They don't care about the kids futures. Eat or be eaten. But now the vets want protection from being eaten. Wussies.
Why dont they have it so that a high school kid who enters the draft but doesn't get selected still eligible for the NCAA!? Under the new rule he'll have to stay at least 2 years(like anyone who decides to go to school) before he enters the draft again. If he signed any deals/endorsements(not likely with a borderline pick) he'll have to sign out of those before he goes to school. A high school kid who gets drafted and is later cut will not be eligible for school though.
Superstars are going to be superstars, regardless of where they start. The point of this rule is to make the starting point a little bit further, especially in regards to players who aren't guaranteed superstars like Lebron. It will have zero effect on the talent level of the league, with the exception of the first year it's enacted, which will probably be a weak draft. More experienced players coming in benefits the NBA just as much as it does the NCAA. If they get injured in college and miss out on a big paycheck then that's their own fault. They're not entitled to anything just because they're a good prospect.
Then you have the potential for all high school players to sign up for the draft and take their chances there.
There are a couple issues here. First, it benefits more than just college basketball, it benefits the NBA as well. Mostly it will help teams in more accurately drafting players relative to their ability to produce in the NBA. All players go through a large development phase between the ages of 18-22. At 22 (at the end of that development phase), teams can more accurate gauge how that player will produce in the NBA. These first round picks are multi-million dollar decisions in a competitive multi-billion dollar industry. It makes sense from the teams' and the nba's perspective to do everything possible to enable teams to make better, more accurate business decisions. This is the main reason why Stern supports age-limit rules. There also may be an argument that 1,2, or more years of college will lead to more mature and more social stable players. It may generally help some of them deal with social and professional pressures that come from playing in the nba. If it keeps them out of trouble, it could also help the NBA's PR. There is probably something to this as well. Of course, without a doubt it also helps NCAA college basketball make even more money. On the other side of the coin, is this fair for the players? College basketball makes millions of dollars off these players, but these student-athletes do not get fairly compensated for their performance. There are also legal issues to consider. The NBA has market power of basketball employment because there is no comparable substitute for basketball players. Excluding employee based on age, may constitute an illegal group boycott. But ignoring federal or labor law issues, a basic question that should be asked is whether it is fair deny employment rights to an 18 yr old (who can die for his country in Iraq), who is qualified, and who the market (through the draft) thinks is qualified and good enough.
Yea. But how many of them are first round material, as in guaranteed contracts. 2nd round is no guarantee you'll even see anything beyond a summer league game. If a high schooler sees his draft stock is in the 2nd round, he'll think twice about entering the draft. He won't want to be picked in the 2nd round, then get cut by October only to be ineligible to play for a school. Guys like Coach K and Bobby Knight aren't interested in 1 year rentals(which is why Duke is looking more and more like a golf team and UNC might follow) A lot of schools will be better off and so will the league. You can have high school hype machines like Lebron coming out while still seeing a steady 2-3yr player like Chris Paul(who made Wake a contender) at the same time. Of course the ultimate downfall to this is someone like Ndubi Ebi who's a lotto pick but showed nothing.
That same savvy agent is savvy enough to realize he's going to make a lot more by directing a player to the NBA - or else he is not savvy at all. Jasikevicius is probably the highest paid Euro player (or one of them) right now, at all of 7m Euros for 2 years (10.5 mm US). That's MLE level money. You're telling me that cash-poor euro teams are goign to start handing out long term, 20 million dollar deals to U.S 18 year olds who don't even want to play there in teh first place? doubtful.
If we want to talk about the NCAA and the profit it makes off of these student athletes with little to no compensation, that's another topic entirely... Your last point is the real issue here....
Count me in with the people who are for this rule. With this rule in place, the NBA can further help protect the fortunes of the billionaire owners and it can help line the pockets of the heads of the NCAA and college coaches. A savvy business man like Donald Sterling won’t have to throw away a fraction of his billions paying for Shaun Livingston’s rehab because he would have never been drafted, he would be working at McDonald’s where he belongs. A great coach like Mike Krzyzewski could have used Livingston’s two good years of post high school health to get to a Final Four and help land him a multi-million dollar extension from Duke and Nike. Instead, what happened? Livingston was a top five pick, signed a multi-million dollar rookie deal and some endorsement deals, then he suffered a career altering, if not ending, injury. Who benefited from that? Just Shaun Livingston, who did nothing to deserve that money except practice hours on end to become one of the most talented point guard prospects we have seen in years. That is not fair to the NCAA, Mike Krzyewski and Donald Sterling, what did they ever do be undeserving of profiting from Livingston’s God-given and short-lived talent?
But many of them are young, dumb kids. This was seen when there was a temporary ruling in favor of Maurice Clarett in the NFL Draft. You had a dozen or so high school players sign up for the NFL draft. These kids aren't going to think about the risk, they're going to think I'm going to take my chance and if it doesn't work out then I have this to fall back on.
Like I said... An endorsement deal would cover it. Any major company would jump at the opportunity to lockup a stud. Even if they didn't rack in the cash immediately because of where they played. The same philosophy applies to the agent. A local agent or AAU coach can seal the deal now and lock in a stud for the length of his career rather than risk competing with droves of agents bending over backwards when that kids 2yrs are up in America.
for a moment or two ,. . . I thought this was gonna be a rule to let BUSTS go back to college Which I think would be kewl You don't make it out of summer league take your *ss back to school but YOU HAVE TO STAY 2 Years Rocket River
Uh-huh - so why hasn't the same thing happened already? You are vastly overestimating the marketability of american high school players in Europe, (slim to none - you think Spanish know who OJ Mayo is....really?) as well as the available resources. The top selling jerseys in Europe aren't Mike Batiste Pana Athens jerseys - it's Shaq, Kobe, Wade, Lebron Iverson etc. Sure, European players might pick up a few million here and there for local endorsers, but the global endorsers, the ones that hand out the real $$$ (Nike Adidas, Reebok) - concentrate their money in one place where they can reach audiences globally - not regional markets like the Spanish league. There really hasn't been anything preventing the scenario you envision from having occurred at any point over the last 20 years - yet it hasn't even come close to occurring. Basketball is popular in Europe - but not popular enough to support the kind of salary structure you are envisioning.
It'd be cool if the title was fill in the blank and we could have a poll... David Stern to create a.... a. Castle in the Sky b. Hit porno with WNBA Star c. New NBA logo starring himself d. New basketball for the league made out of composite oh wait...
They won't have anything to fall back on if they get picked yet get cut by July. Like a NBA high schooler would have to play overseas or sign with a D-League team if he gets picked but later on cut by October. And last time I checked you gotta better chance coming in thru the draft than thru D-League. We got 30yr olds+ still in D-league. A high schooler is not gonna want such a drastic change of scenery, culture, and lifestyle, so I'm ruling one going overseas out. I know I wasn't trying to see overseas. Meaning only those who are locks for the lottery would stay cause 20 and under is very likely to drop to the 2nd round and as a high schooler you wouldn't want that.
heres how it works over seas. the money you make is pretty much yours to spend the teams provide housing arrangements, 3 meals a day (ask baby shaq about the snacks), and transportation... also if you make 5 million euros, then thats 5 million euros flat out, theres no tax on the money you make, not to mention you'll be living somewhere alot cleaner than the u.s. alot less bias and beautiful women. I know for one i would do it... not to mention you could still sign endorsement deals overseas and still get drafted @ 19 then come back over the next year after you reach the age limit
