The NBA Age Rule

Hello Again
I do not get the chance to post on here nearly as much as I would like. But, with the regular season beginning in twelve days, I figured now was as good a time as any to start back up with my basketball blog. In today's post, I want to briefly touch on a few issues: the NBA age rule, contracts, lineups, and a little something special for the end. So, without further adieu, let's get started.

The NBA Age Rule Makes a Mockery of the NCAA:
The age eligibility rule states that, "All drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. To determine whether a player is eligible for a given year's draft, subtract 19 from the year of the draft. If the player was born during or before that year, he is eligible. Any player who is not an "international player", as defined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, must be at least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class." In other words, unless you are an international player, you need to either spend a year in college or play elsewhere until you are 19 years old.

The problem with the rule, as I see it, is that it turns the NCAA in to a veritable farm system for the professional league, and takes away from the college game. Case in point, The University of Kentucky. The entire core of this year's National Championship team fled UK for greener pastures after securing John Calipari's first NCAA title. However, this is nothing new. For the major programs (colleges in the big-six conferences: Big East, ACC, SEC, Big-10, Big-12, and Pac-12) the notion of having a top prospect high school player stay on campus beyond his freshman year has become a fantasy.  While this has led to an influx of great young talent over the past few years (just consider that since 2008 the following players have entered the NBA after only one year in college: Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Michael Beasley, O.J. Mayo, Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, John Wall, Derrick Favors, DeMarcus Cousins, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Bradley Beal) it has also saturated the NBA with players who were just not ready for the big time quite yet. Beasley, Mayo and Evans come to mind when considering who would have benefited from some more time on campus, honing their skills and getting some more coaching.

The other problem, at least as I see it, is that the current system, beginning with the AAU programs, creates these kids who are perceived as prodigies, coddles them throughout their teenage years, and then expects them to just produce in a league of men.  Remember that for every LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, there is a DaJuan Wagner.

So, what then is the solution? Why not take a page from the other professional leagues? Major League Baseball allows high-school students to enter the draft. Once drafted (or not drafted) those players can choose to either go straight in to the professional ranks (likely starting in Single-A) or attend college.  But, if the player chooses to attend college, he must stay in school through his Junior year before leaving to play professional ball.

The baseball rule has three profound effects, which touch on the player, the school, and the professional team they join. First, the player learns good habits, breaks bad habits, and begins to understand what it is like to play against grown men. Second, the school becomes less of a sports factory and produces true "student-athletes."  The NBA rule makes a mockery of "student-athletes," in that freshman phenoms are only required to pass their fall semester courses. What happens after that does not affect the results on the court.  Finally, the league - in this case Major League Baseball - receives the benefit of having players who have been groomed properly and those who cannot cut it at the collegiate level are weeded out via natural selection.

In short, the current rule in the NBA is a disservice to the player, the league, and most importantly the fans.  You know, those people who shell out over a billion dollars each season on tickets and items purchased at the various arenas.  The NBA should consider using the Developmental League as a true minor league rather than pimping out players via the NCAA and continuing to pull the wool over the eyes of the American public. 

What if?
Those who know me best understand that my grasp on fiction and reality is tenuous at best.  Having said that, I have long wondered who would win a hypothetical three-on-three match-up among the characters from The Wire.  In the first season, episode nine is titled Game Day and pits the East-Baltimore Project "all stars" coached by Proposition Joe against the West-Baltimore Project "all stars" coached by Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell. What I have always wanted to know is who would win if a true three-on-three style tournament were put on, and of course, who would make it on to the various teams?

Here is how I think it would play out:

Game One, "The Original West Side Crew": Avon Barksdale, Stringer Bell and Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice versus "The Low Rise Kids": D'Angelo Barksdale, Malik "Poot" Carr and Preston "Bodie" Broadus.
      Winner: This one is not even close. The older crew, headlined by Avon and Stringer - who definitely have some alley-oop potential in them - would steamroll the young guns and easily advance to play the winner of the following...
Game Two, "The West Side Replacements": Marlo Stanfield, Christ Partlow and Felicia Snoop Pearson versus "The Corner Kids": Michael Lee, Randy Wagstaff and Namond Brice.
     Winner: In a "shocking" upset, I think the corner kids, led by Michael Lee's inside presence and Namond Brice's rugged rebounding would dismiss Marlo's gang.

Game Three, "The East Side Crew": "Proposition" Joe Stewart, Calvin "Cheese" Wagstaff and "Slim" Charles versus "Every Man Must Have a Code": Omar Little, William "Bunk" Moreland and Lester Freeman. 
     Winner: The veteran savvy of Moreland and Freeman, combined with Little's "win at all cost" attitude will propel this motley crew past the East Side Drug Kingpins to play the winner of the following...
Game Four, "The Top Brass": Ervin Burrell, William "Bill" Rawls and Cedric Daniels versus "The Free Agents": Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins, Dennis "Cutty" Wise and Brother Mouzone.
     Winner: Despite "Bubbles" falling asleep for about half the game after taking a full shot of heroin between his toes, "The Free Agents" end up destroying "The Top Brass," behind Cutty's interior strength and Brother Mouzone's ability to scare the living hell out of the competition.

Semifinal: "The Original West Side Crew" versus "The Corner Kids."
    Winner: Another lopsided win for Avon and the gang. At one point Wee-Bey even dunks on his own son Namond and shatters the backboard above him.  This leads to a finals match-up against the winner between the following...
Semifinal: "Every Man Must Have a Code" versus "The Free Agents".
    Winner: In a defensive battle, punctuated by a shootout between Omar and Brother Mouzone, "Every Man Must Have a Code" win in the last seconds.

Final: "The Original West Side Crew" versus "Every Man Must Have a Code".
    Winner: Avon and the gang get their revenge on Omar, something they were unable to do throughout the first three seasons of the critically acclaimed HBO series, and win in a rout.

So, in summation, The Original West Side Crew clearly represents the best basketball talent on The Wire, and I clearly need some clinical assistance.

Until next time.