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

1. If you’re good enough, you’re old enough

It would be easy to just mention the likes of LeBron, Kevin Garnett, and the late Kobe Bryant as reasons this is a no-brainer. All three were drafted out of high school and were cornerstone lynchpins after only a couple of years. But there were several who didn’t work out either, and we do have to remember that.

But it seems ridiculous that a mandatory period of having to go to college or play elsewhere exists before making it in the NBA. Many other sports don’t even have this, and if they did fans would be outraged. Lionel Messi made his debut for Barcelona at 16. Cristiano Ronaldo was able to secure his initial move to Manchester United after tormenting them in a game while playing for Sporting Lisbon all happened before he was 19.

More recently Northern Irish soccer team Glenavon fielded a 13-year-old in a competitive cup fixture, while Arsenal recently made 15-year-old Ethan Nwaneri the youngest player in Premier League history. These are absurdly young ages and are done to possibly appease the player, their families, or their agents so that they will stick around for the long term.

But there is also no doubt that both were deemed good enough by professional teams to take to the field at a young age and to compete with men. This goes beyond soccer of course. Serena Williams was 14 when she made her professional competitive debut. If she had been forced to sit out until age 19, how many millions would she have missed out on in winnings and sponsorship endorsements? Better yet if she was good enough, and she clearly was, why should she miss out?

So if you are old enough to be out there, then everything else should be irrelevant. Talent and dedication don’t conform to the passing of days on a calendar. It is likely you, the reader, were probably able to do something at a higher level than the average person from a young age

Now imagine you couldn’t earn a living, or reach the highest levels of competition because you were not old enough to do so. Throw in the injury factor, and how in an instant a career can be over or altered forever and lowering the age limit in the NBA is something that needs to happen. It should have never been changed in the first place.