By Zach Waltz
Assistant Sports Editor
NBA Commissioner David Stern implemented “Article X,” commonly referred to as the one-and-done rule, in the 2005 NBA bargaining agreement. The rule requires all potential draftees for the NBA to be at least 19-years-old and one year removed from high school. Stern made the rule to halt the rush of high school players making the jump to the NBA, bypassing college all together.
The one-and-done rule that has largely affected top-tier NCAA basketball programs may not be as harmful as die-hard basketball fans make it seem. Stern’s reasoning for the rule was that while some players who came straight from high school like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, were highly successful in the NBA, there were roughly a dozen other players who turned out to be huge busts, like Kwame Brown and Leon Smith. Stern believed that in order to protect those less-developed players, all athletes coming out of high school must now attend at least one year of college.
The main argument against the one-and-done rule is that it sends some NBA-ready players to college when they could be making money in the pros. With the recent success of freshmen Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and Julius Randle at Kansas, Duke and Kentucky, respectively, the debate is as hot as ever. Should high school players should be allowed to skip college if they want? Some say these players are putting themselves through unnecessary risk of injury and financial stress at college.
But is there really any harm in this rule?
Bryant and James are considered two of the best players to ever grace the courts of the NBA, so naturally, college was a mere afterthought for them. Did Bryant really need to get an education when he entered the NBA at the ripe age of 17? Of course not. He was, after all, the first guard to get drafted out of high school.
However, Michael Jordan, who is often regarded as the greatest NBA player ever, attended the University of North Carolina for three years before entering the NBA. Those three years didn’t seem to deter him from going on to win six championships, six NBA Finals MVPs and five regular season MVPs.
These three are all extreme cases involving highly talented players. The one-and-done rule was put in place to protect all players, those who are and aren’t ready, from entering the NBA too soon. There are 30 NBA teams, and each dresses only 12 players for games. That makes the NBA one of the most exclusive professional sports leagues in the world, with only 360 players making the cut. In order to make sure all athletes entering the league are fully prepared to handle the physical and mental challenges of the league, the one-and-done rule ensures that underdeveloped, 18-year-old athletes aren’t rushing into the NBA only to fizzle out in two or three years.
However, this rule has the biggest impact on prestigious basketball programs like Duke and Kansas. Just last year, Kentucky lost six freshmen to the draft. These athletes are basically going to school for one semester until they are draft-eligible. This makes it nearly impossible for the nation’s top basketball programs to build any sort of steady foundation for their rosters. However, it makes the college basketball experience more exciting for fans, as we get to see new and exciting players compete each year and make their stab at winning a national championship.
While the one-and-done rule may seem like the NBA trying to discriminate athletes because of age, the rule actually has its benefits for the NBA and the NCAA. It may be discouraging for those who are strictly NBA fans, as it prolongs the process of talent getting into the league.
The rule really only delays good players from receiving money that they are eventually going to receive anyway. There aren’t any major downsides to the one-and-done rule that should make David Stern worried.
For now, let’s just all enjoy the exciting startup of basketball around the country.
Zach Waltz is the assistant sports editor of the Bona Venture. His email is waltzzd12@bonaventure.edu.
