One and Done under pressure from NBA
The aim to increase the minimum age to 20 is getting some more play. Seems to have quite a bit of support from league owners, though I'm not sure why. Not sure what impact overall this would have on College Basketball, but it would definitely change the dynamic of recruiting for people like Calipari.
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10803355/adam-silver-says-pushing-back-nba-age-limit-top-priority
NEW YORK -- Armed with majority support from owners and saying "we're ready to go," NBA commissioner Adam Silver made it clear pushing back the league's age limit to 20 is at the top of his priority list.
The league's owners hosted NCAA president Mark Emmert to discuss the issue as part of their annual two-day spring meeting this week. Any changes wouldn't be in place by next season because the league is waiting for the players' association to name an executive director before formally starting negotiations. But it's clear there's a growing momentum to force this occasionally divisive issue through soon, possibly in time for the 2016 draft.
Silver, who was presiding over his first board of governors meeting since taking over from David Stern in February, said the league and the NCAA have discussed creating some programs and provisions to help players stay in college longer as part of a way to get the union to accept the changes.
When the league and the players' union signed the collective bargaining agreement in 2011, it was agreed the current one-and-done college rule could be revised at any time. The players' union recently named Sacramento mayor and former NBA player Kevin Johnson to head a committee to name a new leader by the start of the 2014-15 season.
"If we're going to be successful in raising the age from 19 to 20, part and parcel in those negotiations goes to the treatment of players on those college campuses and closing the gap between what their scholarships cover and their expenses," Silver said. "We haven't looked specifically at creating a financial incentive for them to stay in college. That's been an option that has been raised over the years, but that's not something that is on the table right now."
In addition, Silver said Emmert and the team owners talked about other ways to potentially ease a player's transition from college to the NBA. This could include changes in officiating and game play, such as reducing the NCAA's shot clock, which is 35 seconds compared to the NBA's 24.
Some have suggested that players who must wait two years to enter the draft would be better off playinng in other professional leagues such as the NBA Development League, which doesn't have an age limit, or going overseas.
"I'm reading and listening to college players and the other side saying development may be better outside the NBA or the environment isn't ideal in college," Silver said. "I think those are all things we have to look at."
Here are some other issues that came up at the meeting:
• Silver said owners had discussions on possible changes to the draft lottery and the current playoff system. There has been a growing sense of a need to change the way draft position is established to discourage teams from actively attempting to lose games to enhance draft or playoff spots.
A number of options were presented, including changing the odds, the so-called "wheel" that would rotate the No. 1 pick to all 30 teams over 30 years and a play-in tournament to determine draft order. But Silver said there was no consensus on which direction to take and that it will be studied by the league's competition committee at their annual summit over the summer. No timetable for potential changes was discussed.
The same was said about playoff seeding and the idea of abolishing conferences when it comes to picking the 16 playoff teams. It has been raised that in 11 of the past 14 seasons, the ninth-best team in the Western Conference would've been a playoff team in the Eastern Conference. Silver has hinted recently he'd considering removing conference designations but said this was also headed to the competition committee for study.
Silver, however, is very influential with that committee. Last year, before he became commissioner, he was a driving force in getting the competition committee to change the NBA Finals format. But it's hard to read exactly how hard Silver may push for making these potentially sweeping adjustments.
"These are issues that needed to be viewed in committee process," Silver said. "As travel becomes easier it opens up windows of opportunity for change. The league is doing so well right now, I want to be very deliberate and cautious about making any changes."
• Silver said he hopes an owners' vote on the sale of the Milwaukee Bucks from Herb Kohl to hedge fund magnates Wes Edens and Marc Lasry can happen within a month. Edens and Lasry (who owns a small percentage of the Brooklyn Nets) agreed to pay $550 million for the Bucks plus another $100 million toward the construction of a new arena this week. As part of the deal, Kohl agreed to gift $100 million to the city of Milwaukee for the arena.
The Bucks' current lease at the Bradley Center expires in 2017, and another $200 million to $300 million probably will need to be raised for a new arena, likely with some form of public financing. It isn't clear where that money will come from, but Silver said he was confident the Bucks would not be relocating.
"Kohl put in place provisions to make sure the team stays in Milwaukee," Silver said.
• San Antonio Spurs owner Peter Holt stepped down as chairman of the board of governors due to personal reasons. Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, who had been chairman until Holt took over last fall, agreed to step in on an interim basis.
• League owners approved the sale of a minority share in the Oklahoma City Thunder to George Kaiser, who is the primary owner of GBK Corporation, which is an energy company. He bought the shares of Tom Ward, the former CEO of Sand Ridge Energy who was fired from his position last year.
• The NBA and USA Basketball announced a partnership with the Department of Defense in an incentive to support armed forces members and their families. It will create a full schedule of events across the world including USO tours, exhibition games, clinics, open practices for military members, speaking engagements and game tickets. It will include NBA and WNBA teams as well as Team USA.
Used to be that college basketball players were required to stay all four years. Then they abolished that rule, and you could go straight out of high school, because athletes felt taken advantage of. Then they added one more year onto that. Now it's gonna be two.
There were a couple stories about how, in addition to other incentives, Silver has floated the idea of providing subsidies for college athletes as an incentive to stay an extra year in college. This would apparently include providing for basic needs and the league covering for the attendance gap for provisions over and above their scholarship. He also brought up the idea of a more comprehensive insurance including disability coverage to mitigate the fear of injury. Granted, it has only been discussed broadly by colleges, the league and the union, but it is an interesting discussion, I am sure.
Seems to have quite a bit of support from league owners, though I'm not sure why.Pretty simple: they'd like players to be more finished products when they arrive in the league. They hate paying big bucks to watch a guy slowly develop over a few years. Also, they want their rookies to be well-known before they enter the league. The owners wanted a two-year rule all along, but the NBPA initially balked and the one-year rule was a compromise. Now it seems that NBPA is more amenable to the idea.
Developing in college is great if you are the player who needs to. All players dont need to develop in college because for some of them the competition/talent gap is to great so its best they go and develop in the league. And its funny you mention Darko because under these rules he wouldnt be forced to play college ball since he is from Europe.
You are not in the minority. Age limit most likely = better college basketball and better NBA. Yes, about .002% or therabouts of the college basketball players will be negatively impacted by not going pro early. Maybe more, but it is way less than 1% and they go to the right college they do get the benefit of great coaching.
I say draft them all at 18 with rights until they turn 22. That way, teams are in no hurry to sign kids until they know they can help and kids can go to college to mature physically, emotionally and intellectually.
This would force NBA scouts to do a better job while taking some pressure out of the entire process. It would also keep 19 year-olds from having to make a decision to give up their eligibility based on guessing whether they will be a first round pick or not.
I really can't think of anyone who would "lose" here.
And this is already being done with overseas players. Im a Bulls fan and we have a kid stashed overseas since we drafted him in 2009.
Tried to type "baseball" but my fingers apparently didn't want to. Anyway, my intent was pretty clear. And, of course, I was too late to edit.
April 18th, 2014 at 10:32 PM ^
I agree. Why not change the system to reflect what baseball does? If a kid is good enough out of high school to enter the draft then they should be able to go, if not then the kid goes to college for two or three years.
Here is the problem I have with the age minimum and who is a draft eligible player: its different for U.S. players and those coming from overseas. If the NBA and NCAA were truly worried about players getting an education, then why no concern for our overseas brethern and their education? The NCAA wants to keep the players in school because it helps justify the tv contracts and the NBA is willing to help them because like another poster said, they get players who have now being marketed to us for two years instead of one. Also rookies would be older meaning they could have them in their rookie deals at an age when players now are cashing in on that first big contract. If i can have a 22 year old Jabari Parker two years into his rookie deal vs 22 year Jabari Parker who could be potentially coming off his rookie deal and signing a new max deal contract, from an owners standpoint you take the former.
Overseas players face the same age limit as Americans. They currently can't enter the league before age 19, and it will be 20 if this passes.
Yes but unlike the their US counterparts, they are not required to be one year removed from high school. The argument being made is these kids need to mature in college and work toward a degree for life after basketball. Why is that same argument for European players? Also the d-league age limit is only 18. Why is that? My point is this is not about ensuring players mature and get an education; this is about whats best for the college coaches who want to keep the players who help them in in college longer to help them to continue to win.
There are a couple of things at play here:
First, in many European countries, kids are winnowed at 14 or 15, with the serious students going on to high school and the weaker students going to a vocational school to learn some kind of trade. The NBA can't require a kid to finish high school if he never is allowed to attend in the first place. (Actually, they don't require American kids to finish high school either. They just have to be a year removed from their class's graduation.)
The other thing is that school age varies from one country to another. In some countries you can finish high school at 17, some 18, some as late as 20. The NBA isn't going to have a different rule for every country.
They want a better product and teams are tired of Darko's and Korleon Young's.
Why can't players make money off endorsements?
NBA Owners - less risk in the draft, protects their FREE farm system
NCAA - protects the quality of their key products (MBB and CFB), secondarily helps the pro leagues which they need as an incentive to draw the kids to college, and protects their continued use of college sports as a huge fundraising draw - remember most schools are lucky to break even on college sports - most actually lose money - but feel it is worth it because of alumni and general public support
Current Pro Players - controls competition
Players union - wants more jobs but not lose current membership - in an ideal world, they'd like to see roster size expanded.
College Players - one more hoop to jump through
One other benefit for the NBA: if these guys stay in college two years, they'll make much more of a name for themselves before they enter the NBA, thus increasing general interest. When players were going pro straight out of high school, that was a pain for the league from a marketing standpoint, because it was now dealing with players who had no name recognition whatsoever when they entered the league.
Also, it can't really be quantified, but a lot of fans (particularly older ones) have more respect for guys who stuck around in college awhile. Not going to college is something that I think has hurt both LeBron and Kobe from a marketing standpoint. (It hasn't crippled them in this regard, of course, but they haven't attained MJ-levels of marketing appeal, and I think this is a factor.)
Why? The quality of the game has not changed in the past 10 seasons since they instituted the 1 year out of high school rule. Forcing kids to stay another year will not make any difference. Especially when you consider who is being replaced by the young men who will be drafted who have the "He Has Potential" tag on them. Those young men will be replacing aging veterans who are trying to get a few more years of earnings before retiring. I remember reading a comment from the NBAPA from years ago stating that their job is not to protect future employees but current ones. So, for the most part, we'll be seeing these aging veterans who play 5 minutes per game out of every six games instead of that super athletic young guy who can't develop a jump shot. I know I'm being extreme, there are many in-betweens, but I just can't stand the "quality of the game" argument.
Also, remember when Darko was drafted? He wasn't old enough so the NBA reduced the age limit to allow him to be drafted. There are other European players, IIRC the African-Greek kid that plays for Milwaukee is also very young. Giannis Antetokounmpo was 18 when he was drafted. The hypocrisy is annoying. What a bunch of crap. 1 year or 2 years out of high school for American (overwhelmingly black) players to play in the NBA but European players, b/c they can play professionally at 14 or whatever, are allowed into the NBA at 18.
The age limit didn't exist when Darko was drafted. It was introduced in 2005. Europeans can't enter the draft any sooner than Americans can - the age limit is 19 in either case.
April 20th, 2014 at 12:20 AM ^
Make them go for two years but let them make money off their likeness. What are the potential issues?
Or how about Nike paying all of Oregons football team?
April 20th, 2014 at 12:18 AM ^
Disappointed!
From the thread title I thought the the NBA was putting pressure on a player from the XBA...
Plus having more time in collee further builds name recognition and exposure, which the NBA gets for free too.
You point out the real issue. Why would a pro league care or want to become involved into anything the NCAA is tied up with unless it is to protect their very successful de facto farm system. There is a steady stream of players each year which the NCAA happily provides the NBA and the NFL.
Were there already a strong or traditionally established farm system (like with baseball and world wide with futbol) then this argument goes away. In futbol, kids as young as 9 and 10 are being identified and signed up to youth deals.
Slightly OT - it is clear to everyone that there is an enormous revenue stream in college sports. A lot of people and companies are making a lot of money from this cash flow. The players do get some benefits undoubtedly, but perhaps the argument that is being made about pay places the wrong emphasis. Rather than thinking of the athletes as being employed by the Athletic Department, at most places, their real impact and benefit is as walking breathing ad for the Development Department (the unit that fundraises and goes out looking for alumni and general public donations). Most (the vast majority) of the athletic programs actually are lucky to break even, so why do the schools fund them? Because of the Development benefit.
April 20th, 2014 at 12:15 AM ^
April 20th, 2014 at 11:49 AM ^
I think the most interesting item here isn't the one-and-done news but the confirmation that the prospective rules changes we were discussing on the other thread are being driven by the NBA negotiations. It explains why Beilein was perplexed by the fact that the items the coaches were concerned with, like clarifying the charge/block calls, were completely ignored. You'd expect Beilein to be in the loop on competition issues but the coaches aren't driving that bus any more.
And if I'm reading Silver's quote right, it's not just rules but officiating style. Don't like perimeter players putting their shoulders down and barging their way into the lane? Too bad for you; it's good training for the NBA.
I suspect the college game will regret it. Somebody (might have been Brian, I think it was mentioned on the front page) linked a study a while back showing that there wasn't a lot of overlap between pro football fans and college football fans. People were passionate about one or the other, but seldom both. I suspect the same is true of basketball, and moves to make the college game more closely resemble the NBA, so that it better serves as a farm system, will cost them fans in the long run.
It's sad, too, that those changes will probably be implemented at all levels. D3 schools that wouldn't turn out one NBA player per century will be stuck will rules and officiating designed for an NBA developmental league, whether they make sense at that level or not.