The NBA has finally begun the process of killing age restrictions on the league.
According to a USA Today report Thursday night, the league has “formal proposal” to lower the draft age from 19 to 18. According to the same report, the proposal is the “first step” in lowering the age by the 2022 draft.
So, it won’t happen immediately, but it does appear that the ball is finally rolling. I also couldn’t agree more with changing the age limit.
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We’ve tried the one and done era, and I’m not sure any college basketball purist loves it. Guys like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and others didn’t need college ball to go to the NBA.
They were ready to go straight from high school, and they were allowed to. Would the college game have been much better if they spent four months on campus? Probably not.
The other main point is that athletes should be able to cash in as quickly as they can. As we all just saw with Zion Williamson Wednesday night, they’re only one bad play away from getting hurt. (RELATED: Duke Star Zion Williamson Suffers Sprained Knee In Loss To North Carolina)
If they get hurt in the NBA, they have cash on the table. It’s not the same in college. Sure, they still have an education, but they don’t have millions in the bank.
Still can’t believe this happened. Hope Zion is ok. pic.twitter.com/J4OYIe2vEz
— Joe Trahan (@JoeTrahan) February 21, 2019
This is a really good idea from the NBA, and we should tip our caps when a pro sports league makes a good call. Let’s leave college basketball as pure as we can with kids who truly want to be there, and the guys who feel they’re ready for the NBA can go immediately.