Age Limit Good for NBA

NBA Commissioner David Stern has long been seeking an age limit for entry into the league -- preferably 20 years old -- and he may finally get his wish. For years, the players union has long resisted such a move, but under new collective bargaining situations as the old labor agreement expires, it may finally acquiesce.

One player, however, is not happy and has let it be known. The Indiana Pacers' Jermaine O'Neal, who entered the NBA straight from high school, has gone so far as to make an accusation of racism as the reason for the league's desire to impose the limit:

"In the last two or three years, the rookie of the year has been a high school player. There were seven high school players in the All-Star Game, so why we even talking an age limit? As a black guy, you kind of think that's the reason why it's coming up. You don't hear about it in baseball or hockey. To say you have to be 20, 21 to get in the league, it's unconstitutional. If I can go to the U.S. Army and fight the war at 18 why can't you play basketball for 48 minutes?"

What O'Neal fails to understand is that the age limit's intent is not to prevent great high school players from making a direct jump to the NBA because the league can't handle them. It's because they can't handle the league -- something the union has not recognized in their over-pursuit of players' rights. Great basketball skills are no guarantee of personal maturity. The NBA is currently facing an image crisis -- apparent even before the infamous Basketbrawl -- in which spoiled, immature multi-millionaires show no sense of responsibility nor philanthropy. Despite the NBA's drive to promote charities and community services from players, what sticks in the minds of the general population are the constant reports of marijuana possession arrests, public altercations and other examples of reckless behavior.

The age limit would give those younger players more time to develop and mature, both on and off the court before entering the NBA. O'Neal himself rode the bench for years before he made an impact. Wouldn't that time have been better spent in college or a developmental league where he would have benefited from superior hands-on coaching/training and high-pressure game experience? He also would have learned to make real-world adjustments from high school life at this level, and not at the NBA's expense.

The proposed age limit also seems designed to reinvigorate the college game which is in a serious state of atrophy right now. College players are consistently leaving after one or two years because they view college as a mere jumping point. With an age limit in place, players would be forced to view college as a viable option and treat their time there with respect as a serious part of the process. The shift in perspective could also mean an increase in full-term students, and thus maturer adults ready for the highs and lows of top-level professional basketball life. As a side effect, this would also mean an increase in jobs for veterans who would have otherwise been waived to make way for new blood.

As for O'Neal's assertion of racism, the age limit is colorblind; it would not apply to black players exclusively. While it's true that all of the players who have gone to the NBA directly from high school have been black, the game is quickly expanding internationally and it's all but a guarantee that in a few years we'll be seeing players of many diverse ethnicities who will seek to enter the NBA as teenagers. The age limit would apply to them as well.

Besides, what imbecilic sort of racism wards off young black players when they create such overflowing revenue for the league? True racism would seek to exploit these young players while encouraging their proliferation without regard for their welfare. Commissioner Stern, who possesses a true love of the game, recognizes that there is more at stake than money here. Anyway, there is hardly any executive in the sports world who has done more for the black athlete than Stern. For O'Neal to judge him otherwise is unfair.

Much has been made of the high-schooler success stories; O'Neal poignantly points out that the last two Rookies of the Year came straight from high school. I'll say this: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady and O'Neal can be my fantasy starting five any day. But for every one of them, there were several more high school prospects who got it in their heads that they could be the next success story, declared for the draft, and never heard their names called. The bottom line is that truly great high school players are still an exception rather than a burgeoning trend.

Perhaps there's a 14-year old out there with dreams of being the next LeBron James. Perhaps he'll be just as good at 17 as James was. With the proposed age limit in place, he wouldn't be able to jump into the league the way that James did. It seems an unfortunate effect, but it's a necessary sacrifice. Why? The age limit is a long-term move with higher aspirations than the fulfillment of individual desires. Look to the greater good. Call me idealistic but I think this could be the beginning of a plan to improve the quality of the entire NBA game, continue the tradition of the college system, prove the viability of a developmental league, provide assistance in players' personal growths, promote higher education and reform the public image of not only the NBA but perhaps young black males at large.