High Schoolers Entering the Draft

[joshposh]

What are your thoughts of high school athletes and college undergraduates entering the draft early? I understand the pressure of living below your means and wanting a better future for yourself and your fmaily. If I was 18 and there was a chance to make several million my first year as a rookie, I would do it to. But I feel like the NBA is suffering from undeveloped talent. Talent that could have grown in college or at least a in the NBA development league.

How many kids enter the draft early and turn into such letdowns? Kwame, where are you?

 

[TPhoenix]

I think this issue can relate to the food industry. They have to sacrifice quality and rush the food to the market or people will starve. It's sort of comparable to the NBA since veteran players will not stick around forever and they'll be left with nothing if they're not trying to create something out of newer, younger players.

Veterans will eventually retire and players get injured and sidelined temporarily or permanently. They've got to keep getting new, young talent in and groom them as they go along and experience the competition first-hand. It'll take time to rebuild the teams, but they just have to hold out hope that they can create some star players out of them.

 

[Maxeem]

In terms of high-school athletes, if you're Lebron James level (maybe only once in a couple of decades, though) or your family really needs the cash, I would say go for it.
As long as you can rake in over several millions in total, you are set for years.
Heck, even if you only make minimum salary, the game is pretty lucrative.
Overall, however, I would still recommend to those potential players to develop their talent in college; nothing really negative in this situation if you potentially can make more money than you pay for college. In fact, if you are good enough, you could probably even get a scholarship, saving you even more money. College ball is still definitely the better option if you can consider it.

 

[thejamal]

I don't have a problem with the one year system as it at least encourages young kids to go to school and get SOME sort of an education, even if it is just for one year. And some guys, like Willie-Cauley Stein from Kentucky, love going to school so much that they're willing to delay their entry into the draft.

Having the "one and done" system is a compromise between forcing kids to stay in school for too long and letting them come out early out of high school. Even though college ball would be crazy fun to watch if the top prospects had to stay in school for 2 years, I hope it's not a system they put in place.

 

[Maxeem]

I don't have a problem with the one year system as it at least encourages young kids to go to school and get SOME sort of an education, even if it is just for one year. And some guys, like Willie-Cauley Stein from Kentucky, love going to school so much that they're willing to delay their entry into the draft.

Having the "one and done" system is a compromise between forcing kids to stay in school for too long and letting them come out early out of high school. Even though college ball would be crazy fun to watch if the top prospects had to stay in school for 2 years, I hope it's not a system they put in place.

Yeah I completely agree, let the one's who love school stay for a while, but encourage others to get at least one year of education.
Although I had previously stated to leave it up to them, I do think your idea is also reasonable too. One year won't delay that much, and you get the proper education and more maturity you need for the real deal... the NBA
Though I would still leave it up to them. Some people might be desperate for money or just flat out hate college in general. The NBA should probably respect that decision, since they never originally put up a rule that barred people like LBJ.

 

[thejamal]

Yeah I completely agree, let the one's who love school stay for a while, but encourage others to get at least one year of education.
Although I had previously stated to leave it up to them, I do think your idea is also reasonable too. One year won't delay that much, and you get the proper education and more maturity you need for the real deal... the NBA
Though I would still leave it up to them. Some people might be desperate for money or just flat out hate college in general. The NBA should probably respect that decision, since they never originally put up a rule that barred people like LBJ.

What the 1 year of college HAS done though is prevent these kids from busting as a high school kid coming into the NBA. Think about how raw guys like Andrew Wiggins are this year. And with all the hype Wiggins got out of High School, how would he have been able to handle that pressure of the NBA?

Not everyone can be LBJ and just dominate from day 1. And honestly, even guys like KG and Kobe who were trail-blazers out of high school didn't come into the league setting it on fire. Forcing at least 1 year of college helps sustain these top prospects careers and gives them an extra year of ball/conditioning/developing to be better prepared for the leap that it takes to play NBA basketball.

 

[Sugarhill]

Due to the fact that neither the NBA nor the colleges really care about these guys or their game outside of how it impacts them financially, I think these guys should be able to come out straight from high school. Like anyone going into business for themselves, you have to figure out if you are ready for the market or if you need a little more time.

Unless they want to get "serious" about these guys' education and force them to stay three years as they do in the NFL, then I think a person should be given the opportunity to fail or better yet, succeed as soon as they want to take a chance on themselves.

 

[downsouth]

Kids should have the right to make up their own minds for sure. With all the injuries I see breaking the hopes of promising athletes I think finishing their education and getting that degree is important. It gives you something to fall back on. But also you can have a couple of extra years like Kobe did and take the NBA by storm. But how many Kobe's are there ? I think these kids are mesmerized by the money and glamor and almost cornered into going professional early. Again it is entirely up to them but I think more of an effort needs to be made for them to stay and get their degree.

 

[joshposh]

Everyone should watch the Documentary Lenny Cooke. It's about a high school athlete that went pro. Tried to anyway. He entered the draft after that one year where the top 3 picks were high school students. Kwame was the first pick. Anyways, this guy didn't get drafted and wasn't eligible for college ball. So he had no scholarship and wasn't good enough for the NBA, because the previous years d=high school draft picks were a bust.

Several years later, Lenny is overweight and nowhere near entering the NBA. No college scholarship, no million dollar contract. Now if he had taken a college scholarship and gotten a secondary level education, he could of at least fall back on that. But he entered the draft early and got shafted. A free college education was there. But the money was too enticing to pass up.

 

[rga1999]

I have absolutely no problem with this. I believe as long as they are 18 they should be able to declare for the draft. I know we are trying to make the game better, but that is up to the GM and scouts to say whether they can handle the game. Unfortunately right now a lot of kids who go right from high school to the draft end up failing.

 

[downsouth]

Everyone should watch the Documentary Lenny Cooke. It's about a high school athlete that went pro. Tried to anyway. He entered the draft after that one year where the top 3 picks were high school students. Kwame was the first pick. Anyways, this guy didn't get drafted and wasn't eligible for college ball. So he had no scholarship and wasn't good enough for the NBA, because the previous years d=high school draft picks were a bust.

Several years later, Lenny is overweight and nowhere near entering the NBA. No college scholarship, no million dollar contract. Now if he had taken a college scholarship and gotten a secondary level education, he could of at least fall back on that. But he entered the draft early and got shafted. A free college education was there. But the money was too enticing to pass up.

Yea that is why although high school kids have the right to make their own decision, I think educators and universities should make a more concerted effort to keep these kids around and get at least a degree. More often then not they go for the money, are not talented enough or get injured and end up doing some low playing blue collar job and struggling financially. In the NFL it is mandatory for kids to finish college before they declare for the draft.

 

[thepieeatingjay]

This kind of thing has been going on for a long time in sports. Where they take children right out of high school or after only 1 year of college.

Sure, they're skills may be ready. But their mentalities very rarely are. We're talking about kids where many of them never left home suddenly being asked to transform into men over the course of a summer.

 

[Charity]

I have to say that I would be wary if I was a team in drafting a kid right out of high school. I mean you just have to look at OJ Mayo to see that he was tearing it apart in high school. However, in the pros he is nothing more than a mediocre player who is not able to score a ton of points.

 

[queenbellevue]

Yeah, I don't think they should go straight into the NBA after high school. I mean, kids would just focus all their energy into playing ball and neglecting school. Now, I'm not saying that's a *bad* thing, but what if they get some kind of injury or just aren't as good in the pros, what then?? They're basically screwed. I'd hate for that to happen.

 

[JoanMcWench]

Honestly, where does it stop? What stops the NBA from dealing with the parents contractually at 17 after that? When did Kobe get drafted again???

 

[AtlantaSports]

Coming straight from high school worked for people like Kobe, Steve Nash and KG, but it didn't work for people like Kwame Brown. However, Kwame Brown still made bank, which means even though he was considered one of the biggest busts of all time, he still made a lot of money. Now, if he handled that money right, then he should be financially stable. I think that the main reason the NBA made that rule was to keep income coming in to the colleges across the nation.

 

[AtlantaSports]

Everyone should watch the Documentary Lenny Cooke. It's about a high school athlete that went pro. Tried to anyway. He entered the draft after that one year where the top 3 picks were high school students. Kwame was the first pick. Anyways, this guy didn't get drafted and wasn't eligible for college ball. So he had no scholarship and wasn't good enough for the NBA, because the previous years d=high school draft picks were a bust.

Several years later, Lenny is overweight and nowhere near entering the NBA. No college scholarship, no million dollar contract. Now if he had taken a college scholarship and gotten a secondary level education, he could of at least fall back on that. But he entered the draft early and got shafted. A free college education was there. But the money was too enticing to pass up.

I just watched the trailer for that documentary. That is where being irresponsible and cocky will bite you in the butt. He was not ready to go to the league whatsoever, especially with that attitude.

 

[xTinx]

This one concerned me too. Before I get to that point, allow me to say: how can you guys forget to mention Zach LaVine from the Minnesota Timberwolves? I know he's still a rookie and doesn't have much of a reputation yet, but at the recent All Stars, he was hailed the second youngest Slam Dunk champion next to Kobe Bryant (who won the competition at the age of 18). Zach is only 19!

I personally believe that entering the NBA draft early on is all right. It's their life anyway and no one has the right to tell them what to do. If playing for the NBA gives them fulfilment, then hoorah, Unlike in other countries, college is only an option in the US. It's not something mandatory. Those rookies can always go to university whenever they want to. An NBA player's salary alone can already buy 10 college degrees.