On the NBA and the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (Op-Ed) By BottleRocket Sat Jun 25th, 2005 at 08:10:06 PM EST
	I love the NBA. To me, basketball is a game of both intensity and finesse. In the last few years, basketball's worldwide popularity has grown tremendously, and today it's beginning to rival [soccer | football] in terms of broad global appeal. As I write this, I anxiously await the tipoff for the last game of the finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the Detroit Pistons, and I couldn't hope for a better series between more evenly matched opponents. Even as this most luminous of NBA functions reaches peak intensity, a deeper story has developed. On Tuesday, a 6-year Collective Bargaining Agreement between players and the NBA and its union was agreed upon. This year, the agreement contains a clause for elegibility of players based on age, and this where the story begins.

The NBA. The show. For many kids, the dream of becoming a star in the NBA eclipses all else. Besides the millions of dollars in salary, the added millions in endorsements, and the adoration of hundreds of millions of fans, I imagine that the greatest thing about playing for the NBA would be the tremendous success that the player finds in doing what they love. It's satisfaction at every level, and the desire to be a part of the NBA could be an elixir for underprivileged high schoolers, especially ones with the talent and the desire to look for a better life away from some tough playgrounds and high crime areas. Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and LeBron James, some of the most famous figures in major league sports, were all drafted straight out of high school. Kevin Garnett was 2003-04 league MVP. Also in 2003, he was named MVP of the all-star game. LeBron James was 2003-04 rookie of the year, and was 3rd in the league in triple-doubles (That is, having a game with double figures in three important categories, i.e. points, rebounds, and assists). Tracy McGrady won the 2002-03 scoring title, becoming the youngest player to capture the honor since 1974. Finally, three-time NBA championship team member Kobe Bryant has received MVP honors for the all-star game and received the slam dunk award. Last year, he also had five games with triple-doubles, trailing New Jersey's Jason Kidd For 2003-2004, there was a reported high school participation [pdf] of 544,811 students playing basketball. It was second only to football (American) in participation. It was ranked highest in number of schools with programs. Assuming that 1/4 of participating students are seniors, that means that last year there were 136,000 high school seniors who played basketball, many of whom entertain dreams of being in the NBA. In 2001, there were 5 high school seniors in the draft, which is the most there have ever been. That is, until this year, when 10 hich school students entered the draft, and 8 them went in the first round of picks. Dwight Howard was the top pick, a high school senior who went to Orlando. Also straight out of high school, the number four pick was Shaun Livingston, who went to the L.A. Clippers. This article has some good detail on the recent trend in the NBA of drafting young. The draft works like this: teams that fail to make the playoffs enter a lottery. Those teams that are in the lottery each get a fair chance of getting the best pick, but they will all be among the first teams to select their next team member. The next spots are given to those teams that make the playoffs, in order of worst regular season record to best. The second round will generally carry the same order, but second round picks are often used as bargaining chips during trade agreements. Under the current arrangement, aspiring players can declare themselves eligible after they graduate high school, or any time during college. After college graduation, they are automatically eligible. But this arrangement has not been taken seriously in the last few years. Talent scouts have been increasingly present in high schools, and started recruiting more underclassmen from colleges. One hundred thirty high school seniors and college underclassmen declared their eligibility this year, and the draft only has 60 spots. Many of those spots will go to college graduates. There have been stories of talented but shortsighted kids getting caught without a backup plan. Famously, Taj McDavid out of a high school in North Carolina declared his intention to enter the draft in 1996, before a rule change that would allow him to remove his name from eligibility and enter college. When the draft came and his name wasn't called, he couldn't even go back to school. He later told a newspaper that it was the biggest mistake of his life. Another tragic story concerns Leon Smith, who was counting on being drafted by the Chicago Bulls. He attempted suicide when they passed him over and he was picked up by the Dallas Mavericks. Many other students will enter college thinking that they will stay for a year or two before entering the draft. Some will not have an adequate back up plan, in the event that they aren't drafted. But this year, the NBA and the NBA player's union have agreed to put a stop to the aggressive scouting of young students. Beginning with next year's draft, the minimum age for declaring eligibility will be raised to 19 years old, compromising with management's suggestion of 20. Other provisions of the agreement include increased random drug testing, and a 22% salary increase over the next 6 years. There is considerable debate on the topic of age in the NBA. One hot issue is the sociological effect on high school students. League Commissioner David Stern had this to say: My role model is football, where the age is 21. Baseball has a system where if you're not drafted immediately, and you go to college, you can't be drafted for three years. I don't know if that's good, bad or indifferent. I actually think that I like the idea of perhaps a 19-year-old or 20-year-old limit. It's easier to administer and most of all, it gets us out the business of scouting 16-year-olds and gets me out of the business of fining teams for working out 18-year-old players. It's not a good place for this league to be. It's not good for our reputation, and it's really not a very good message for a sports league to send out. He also adds: ...it's still keeps us telling kids we're going to draft you out of high school. That's what you should be planning for, whether you're 17 or 16 or six, the NBA is the place you go after high school, and frankly, as a business matter, that's not a good business decision in my view. I'm not going to get on a social platform. This has nothing to do with dealing with the college. If kids want to go to college, that's fine. This is not telling young men that they should go to college. Naturally, this is all about college. For a moment, let's make the assumption that reaching the NBA is a pipe dream and that college is the real way to find a better life for people in poorer communities. This assumption isn't so far off, because the odds of finding a place in the NBA, even for extraordinarilly talented kids, is next to zero. The age minimum is a great step, and I deeply wish that the players' union had put up less resistance to the idea of making it even higher. The NBA is full of role models, and not all of them are good ones. In particular, Kobe Bryant was put on trial for rape, and is widely rumored to have trouble getting along with teammates and coach Phil Jackson. To those who would contend that college can be anathema to a career in the NBA, I offer the playoff rosters of the two teams in this year's finals. San Antonio Spurs Playoff Roster Detroit Pistons Playoff Roster Both teams are represented mainly by players with experience in college hoops, with a few international players. Neither team has even a single player drafted out of high school. Perhaps the defining characteristic of both teams is the way that in this series, neither team has presented a single player as their "star". Both teams focus on defense, using solid teamwork to score points. The age provision in the new 6-year Collective Bargaining Agreement is a bold step in improving the quality of players and role models to be introduced into the NBA. Hopefully, with this new agreement, the game of basketball can be made cleaner, more refined, and continue to evolve as a positive sociological force for kids in the inner city.

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Age minimum Bad idea. 10% It's fine the way it is. 18+ 20% Good idea. 19+ 10% Good idea. 20+ 24% Sports are for cheeto-munching lardasses. 34% Votes: 29 Results | Other Polls

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NBA Tracy McGrady Kobe Bryant Kevin Garnett LeBron James Jason Kidd reported high school participation [pdf] Dwight Howard Shaun Livingston This article draft this stories NBA player's union this to say rape San Antonio Spurs Playoff Roster Detroit Pistons Playoff Roster More on Culture Also by BottleRocket