Should High School Players Wait a Year Before Going to NBA?

Student’s Name Course Instructor Date Should High School Players Wait a Year Before Going to NBA? Times have changed and so have the rules that used to apply to American basketball. For over a long time until 2007, players that were considered to be truly elite were allowed to go to the NBA immediately without necessarily having to pass through college. However, with time new rules were instituted that are still being used to determine the eligibility of a player to be drafted to the NBA. The most stressed rule is the one on age limit, whereby players need to be 19 years before they can be considered for the NBA. In addition, a year has to be spent in college before any considerations are made. With the ongoing debate on whether or not to make the players wait for a year before going to the NBA, there is a reason to believe that the best solution is not to insist on the one-year wait and instead allow players to go to the NBA directly after high school. High school players should not wait a year before going to the NBA because this will be like forcing an interest on them, it will restrict them from earning money from their careers and a lot of time will be unnecessarily wasted in that one year. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that a player becomes good after the one year, which makes the wait to be viewed as a form of discrimination against young talented players. Therefore, the wait is not important since players are exposed to unnecessary risks such as injuries in that one year that could reduce their value as players. Results and Findings Most of the high school players are not interested in college and therefore making them wait for one year before going to the NBA will amount to forcing an interest on them. A report by Barra (N.p) echoes the same idea and adds that colleges are more interested in the young players playing for them have little interest in having them attend classes. This in a way is unfair to the young players who could use the time in pursuit of their dreams. Evidently, a majority of the players who end up in the NBA admit to not having the slightest interest in spending a year in college. Instead, they prefer to use that time to get professional drafts with the NBA and be in a better position to use their talents productively and not just to satisfy the athletic departments of their colleges. This lack of interest in education is shown in the cases where the players give up on education once the year ends. As a result, forcing them to wait for this long can work negatively for their future as athletes because their minds are focused on being through with the year and getting out of college. Time is another reason why high school players should go to the NBA without waiting for a year. As Carter (N.p) notes, a lot of teaching goes on in the NBA that sometimes surpasses that offered by colleges to the players. Before and after practice the players are taught much that is related to what they wish to do in the future and the fact that they interact, practice and play with the world’s best players, makes the learning experience more fruitful. Therefore, by considering this, there is really no need to make the high school players wait for a year before going to the NBA. Moreover, in the one year spent in co...