Hoops Habit Staff Debate: The NBA’s age limit is ridiculous

2. Injuries happen

It is an obvious argument to make, but one that many seem to want to ignore. We’ve seen it happen so many times in the past, where a promising college player gets injured before entering the league. In a lot of cases, what they have done is hurt their value and future production by playing in games where they were not getting paid.

For every Ben Simmons or Kyrie Irving, both players who had injuries in college but it did not really impact their draft stock, there is a Harry Giles. The former Duke player looked like a future top-five pick while in high school, before developing knee issues in college, which caused him to slide all the way to 20th on draft night.

He has played for the Sacramento Kings and spent some time in the G-League with the Agua Caliente Clippers, never coming close to realizing his full potential. Of course, these injuries are likely to have occurred if he had not skipped college, and in some ways, it is a blessing for these franchises that they will not be saddled with an injury-prone player straight out of high school.

But for essentially all of these players, the name of the game early on is to make enough money to look after their families and set themselves up financially. By going straight to the league, these players can find the financial security that their skills warrant earlier in life and before any potential career-altering injuries happen.

Consider this. In other parts of the world, much is expected, and also given, to those who are 18 or older. In the United States, that is the legal voting age. You are considered an adult in much of what you do once you reach that age. Yet somehow, delaying your ability to make more money and reach for a higher level of competition is frowned upon. That doesn’t seem right.