because basketball players aren't running the country. why do I care about protecting an nba's owner's interests? they can protect their own interest, do some research before you draft these kids.
you're missing the point, the requirement to be a teacher isn't to be 18. its to be college educated. the analogy is beyond stupid. if you were some kind of kid prodigy who graduated high school at 14 and graduated college at 18, you could teach. because the requirement isn't the age, the requirement is education. what is a kid going to learn from the point between 18 and 19 or one year removed from h.s. to prove he belongs in the nba. the college game is still not the nba. this rule won't prevent busts. yinka dare, how many years did he spend in college. chris washburn, how many years did he spend in college. there is no guarantee that these kids will be productive nba players because they showed they are productive college players.
This type of argument is always put forth with no insight at all. 1. You can vote. Wow you can vote for what exactly? Take one look at the system of goverment we have now in the US and tell me why anyone worth his grain in salt would waste any time voting for any scumbag running on any ballot anywhere. 2. You can enlist in the army. Wow why don't you just say you can commit suicide, or homicide or both, however you want to look at it. Remember the term "defense" now means Empirialistic colonialism in this nation. 3. You can work at McDonald's. Wow, imagine you can make about half after taxes of just what your insurance, car payment, lunch bill, and gas costs you just to appear at the job every day.
The argument is very insightful. Typically at 18, you can work in America at most jobs as long as you can show that you can do the work (excluding elected officials), or have the right qualifications for the role (i.e. a college degree to teach). That's why the NBA-age limit is so stupid. The young players have shown that they can play at the NBA-level, and that skipping college doesn't hinder their ability to dominate immediately (LeBron, Moses) or later. Being able to ball is really the only qualification to get drafted.
Ice: By that logic, the draft itself and the salary cap are stupid. In any other profession, the employer could pay you as much as he felt you were worth....and you could apply to work in whichever city you choose. Why 18? Why not 17? 15? Why not 21 -- so you can legally sip champagne when you win (since you're THAT good). It's always arbitrary.
but. . . once you got your certs/degrees. . did someone say . . HEY YOU NEED TO BE 30 for these jobs these guys are QUALIFIED for the job . . unlike the Examples you give QUALIFIEd. . so it is apples and oranges Rocket River
The NBA can set their own requirements, nothing wrong with that. There are places an 18 year old can go to play ball other than the NBA......the NBDL for instance. The NFL has been doing this for years...big whoop ! DD
How many of the high schoolers that came out would be "kid prodigies?" All you want to point to are the kobe's/lebron's/kg's/amare's of the world. What about ousmane cisse, johnathan bender, korleone young, leon smith? Then you are telling me a guy like cj miles was a child prodigy? Same with kendrick perkins, travis outlaw, diop, etc? There's your problem. Not everyone is a freak like Lebron or KG. And pardon me but it's highly skeptical to say they have the level of skill needed to play in the best basketball league in the world at the point when they are drafted. The high schoolers often go up against guys they outclass physically and put up gaudy numbers that way. They were getting drafted on limited scouting info, and potential alone. And no one said you would eliminate busts. But if you think having them all go to college a year doesn't improve the player at least a little or esp help the teams have more accurate scouting info, you are crazy. Also, having taken the social studies exam, I can tell you I learned very little in college/alternative certification that made any difference in that exam. And as far as any teacher stuff like methods of teaching/lesson planning/etc, it's stuff I could easily have learned on the job. And as far as subbing, you just have to have 60 college hours. And none of those have to pertain to education. It's really just babysitting anyway. And I know I could physically have done those jobs straight out of high school but I couldn't apply for them.
Were they really qualified for the job of playing in the best basketball league in the world as one of the 400-500 best players in the world? I'd argue in a lot of cases, no they were not. They were drafted on what they might become 3-4 years down the road more than anything. You couldn't prove they had the necessary skill/experience to play ball at that level. Just like I can't prove they didn't have it, either. Why is it so hard to accept that the NBA saying being 19 is their version of you need to have this requirement to work here? For every durant/oden, there are at least one korleone young/leon smith/ousmane cisse. They aren't stopping them from going and playing overseas that one year either. And again, I don't see the uproar in the NFL's draft policy.
You can argue whether 18 year olds are qualified or not until the cows come home. The bottom line is that the NBA is basically a single corporation franchised out to multiple cities. That corporation has the right to set standards for hiring for all of its franchises. As many others have noted, there are other professional leagues (i.e. other corporations) that will hire 18 year olds. The only argument I could see is that it may be age discrimination. But to me, that is highly dubious because the age limit has to do with immaturity (physical and otherwise) that is directly tied to age.
Turning 25 magically makes someone a better legislator? There is no one qualified to write or vote on bills at 24? The actual job being done is irrelevent. The point is, there are other jobs which have age requirements, so the NBA having them does not seem any more or less right. They have decided to protect their own interests. Thier method was to put an age requirement in place. You don't have to care about protecting their interests, because the NBA is not asking your opinion in their hiring practices.
