Is it fair for NBA to keep youth out?
League's attempt to institute age limit has supporters, detractors; lawsuits are likely.
<!-- SIDEBAR --><!-- ARTICLE SIDEBAR --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=210 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=10>
</TD><TD><!--MAIN PHOTO--><!--RELATED ARTICLES--><!--RELATED PHOTO GALLERIES--><!----><!--RELATED PHOTOS GALLERIES AND MULTIMEDIA ASSETS--><!--MAIN FACTS BOX--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#eeeeee>Preps to the pros
Since 1995, 36 American players have participated in the NBA draft straight out of high school. Only nine are no longer in the NBA. Here's a look (players who withdrew before draft began are not included):
1995
• Kevin Garnett (picked in first round)
1996
• Kobe Bryant (first)
• Taj McDavid (not drafted)
• Jermaine O'Neal (first)
1997
• Tracy McGrady (first)
1998
• Al Harrington (first)
• Rashard Lewis (second)
• Ellis Richardson (not drafted)
• Korleone Young (second)
1999
• Jonathan Bender (first)
• Leon Smith (first)
2000
• Darius Miles (first)
• DeShawn Stevenson (first)
2001
• Kwame Brown (first)
• Tyson Chandler (first)
• Ousmane Cisse (second)
• Eddy Curry (first)
• DeSagana Diop (first)
• Tony Key (not drafted)
2002
• DeAngelo Collins (not drafted)
• Lenny Cooke (not drafted)
• Amare Stoudemire (first)
2003
• Ndudi Ebi (first)
• LeBron James (first)
• James Lang (second)
• Travis Outlaw (first)
• Kendrick Perkins (first)
2004
• Jackie Butler (not drafted)
• Dwight Howard (first)
• Al Jefferson (first)
• Shaun Livingston (first)
• J.R. Smith (first)
• Josh Smith (first)
• Robert Swift (first)
• Sebastian Telfair (first)
• Dorell Wright (first)
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!--ADDITIONAL FACTS --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- STORY TEXT --><!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->
By Mark Alesia
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript><!--document.write('
'+'mark.alesia'+'@'+'indystar.com'+'');//--></SCRIPT>
[email protected]
As the NBA negotiates with its union to keep high school players out of the draft starting in 2006, Greg Oden of Lawrence North High School stands above the fray.
"It's nothing that concerns me," said the 7-foot junior, widely projected to be the top pick next year if he's eligible and doesn't choose to attend college. "I'm still in high school."
Others are deeply concerned.
Oden's high school and AAU coaches criticized the idea as unfair, and Pacers center Jermaine O'Neal has charged that racial bias is involved, considering the high number of black athletes that would be affected.
NBA commissioner David Stern counters that the rule would benefit players and the league by tempering unrealistic aspirations and giving scouts more time to see players develop.
Legal experts say new restrictions could be vulnerable to a challenge in court, despite the failed effort by Maurice Clarett to overturn the NFL's limits on entering that league's draft. That's because, unlike in football, there is plenty of evidence that basketball players straight from high school can succeed in the pros.
Any change in the NBA's rule would be part of a collective bargaining agreement to replace the current deal, which expires June 30. NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik predicted earlier this week there would be increased restrictions, based on age or years out of high school.
The current rule requires a player's class to have graduated high school.
"It's not for me to decide, and I don't think it's for some rule to decide," Lawrence North coach Jack Keefer said. "Soccer players are pros at 14. Baseball has players leave right after high school, and no one even cares. For some reason, in my sport, if a young man says he's ready to go, we get all up in arms and say, 'Oh, we shouldn't let him do that.'
"That's not quite right. It should be between the teams, the family and the player. . . . If the kid can (play) and the team that drafts him thinks he can (play), you have to leave it up to those two parties."
A court, however, decided the Clarett case on the basis of another party having agreed to the restrictions -- the NFL players union.
Keefer said that if the NBA players union agrees to back the proposed age rule, "it's for a selfish reason. They don't want the competition."
'Deteriorating game'
Kevin Boyle, coach of St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, N.J., favors a minimum age of 20 to enter the draft, even though he coaches Derrick Caracter, another potential 2006 draft choice. Boyle also coached Al Harrington when he was drafted out of high school by the Pacers in 1998.
Boyle's main argument is that the current culture of the game, with its emphasis on summer basketball and players being drafted on potential, has stunted players' development and made them accept losing.
"If the game is deteriorating, you have an obligation to keep it at a high level of skill and entertainment," Boyle said.
He's also concerned about the players.
"There are a ton of street agents and runners trying to get close to kids," Boyle said. "It's moved down from when it used to start in late high school or early college. Now people are trying to make relationships in ninth grade. A 6-8 freshman might have five street agents after him before he has ever developed his game."
The financial stakes are enormous. Last year's No. 1 pick, high school player Dwight Howard, is guaranteed $11.2 million from the Orlando Magic and signed a reported $30 million shoe contract. When he's eligible for free agency, Howard could earn several times what he makes now.
It's an emotional issue, especially for NBA players who entered the league out of high school. Two such players, rookies J.R. Smith of the New Orleans Hornets and Shaun Livingston of the Los Angeles Clippers, registered their concern toward the end of the regular season by wearing their socks to their knees during games.
"We all hope they don't pass the rule for all the young guys coming up," Smith told The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune. Of the 36 American high school players who have entered the draft since 1995, all but one was black. Asked by Newsday to react to O'Neal's comments on race, Martell Webster, a University of Washington recruit, said recently, "I kind of have the same position he does."
Of those 36 players, 27 are still on NBA rosters.
The NCAA could be a big winner if new restrictions result in elite players choosing college.
NCAA president Myles Brand said he has been advised by attorneys not to comment on the issue because of antitrust concerns. During a news conference at the men's Final Four, Brand deferred to Jim Haney, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Haney said coaches want a new rule based not on someone's birthday but three years after his class is out of high school.
"When we hear 20 years of age, we see kids who may have been held back in eighth grade or leave high school and go to a prep school," Haney said. "When we hear 20, we think their potential exit from college to go to the NBA may be after (just) a year.
"In three years (of college), by attending summer school, you really do have a chance to graduate. When we see (age) 20, we put it in the context of facilitating people to leave early and not creating the foundation to graduate."
Legal challenge
Michael McCann, a member of Clarett's legal team and a professor at Mississippi College, said it's inevitable that someone will mount a legal challenge to any new restriction in the NBA. He said a reasonable case could be made based on the success of players drafted out of high school, dating to Kevin Garnett in 1995.
"I think there's a mistaken impression that (the Clarett case) dictates that a player could not challenge any ban," McCann said. "There's a big distinction in issues -- namely a track record, a 10-year track record of players going from high school to the pros and succeeding. I think that's a critical distinction that a court would consider. Clarett had to argue a hypothetical."
The NFL's rule requires players to be out of high school for three football seasons before entering the draft. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court declined to hear Clarett's case. The former Ohio State running back started his case with a victory in U.S. District Court, which ruled the NFL violated antitrust law. But the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling, saying that because the players union and the league agreed to the rule, it's protected from antitrust challenges.
Courts might find that the same thing applies to basketball, if the NBA and its union agree to increased limits for its draft. But Matt Mitten, director of the National Sports Law Institute at Marquette University, said the law is evolving.
"(The Clarett decision) is only binding in the 2nd Circuit, which is New York, Connecticut and Vermont," Mitten said. "Other courts would look to it, but they also might look at the lower court decision (that ruled in favor of Clarett)."
As the situation sorts itself out, superstars from the class of 2006 are exploring their options, including college. George Pitts, who coaches Brandan Wright of Brentwood Academy in Tennessee, said he's torn on the issue of age restrictions. Wright is considered a potential lottery pick.
"He has the option to play for whoever he chooses in college, a coach who will make him a better player," Pitts said. "I'm not saying an NBA coach won't make him better, but the atmosphere is so different. I also see that if you're a lottery pick and you're guaranteed millions, you have to go. He can get a lot of college for that kind of money."
Mike Conley Sr., coach of Oden's AAU team, the Spiece Indy Heat, said players should go to college.
"But I don't think they should be forced to go," said Conley, whose son, Mike Jr., is a high school and AAU teammate of Oden's. "It's not a safety hazard to play in the NBA, and outside of a safety hazard, I don't think there should be a rule keeping a young man from making a living in his chosen profession."
Call Star reporter Mark Alesia at (317) 444-6039.
