The one-and-done rule is one of the most heavily debated topics surrounding the NBA Draft. The rule, which requires a player to one-year removed from graduating high school, was pitched as a way to help players be more ready for the league when they were drafted.
The rule was instituted in 2006, but has been met with plenty of criticism on both sides. Now it looks as if NBA Commissioner Adam Silver could be moving towards getting rid of the rule.
Silver, along with NBA Players Association executive director Michele Roberts met with the Commission on College Basketball and there is apparently “momentum gathering” to end the one-and-done rule, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
“There’s a growing belief within the league that Silver’s desire to end the one-and-done — the ability of college basketball players to enter the NBA draft after playing one year in college — could be pushing the sport closer to high school players having the opportunity to directly enter the league again. For that change to happen, though, the union would probably need to cede the one-and-done rule and agree to a mandate that players entering college must stay two years before declaring for the draft.”
Some have criticized the rule as not going far enough as wave-after-wave of raw 19-year-olds enter the NBA still unready to play against NBA players. There have also been complaints about players who plan on leaving, simply not going to class in their second semester since they can’t be ruled ineligible.
Others have criticized the rule as arbitrarily restricting the potential income of players who would be drafted by NBA teams at 18 if those teams were given the chance to select them.
In the wake of the recent scandals in the NCAA, it’s not surprising that the league is considering getting rid of that restriction so that players with eyes on going to the NBA as soon as possible don’t have to deal with shady recruiters and potential criminals. Plus, those players that want to go to school to develop can commit to at least two years of that so coaches aren’t as desperate to find their next one-year contributors.
Removing the one-and-done rule might not fix everything wrong with the NCAA, but the rule as currently instituted clearly hasn’t done that either, so change might be worth a shot.
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