NBA high school players
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Ever since its inception in 1946, the National Basketball Association has long had a preference for players who played basketball at the collegiate level; the vast majority of players to play in the NBA have had college experience. However, there have been numerous notable players who attended high school in the United States and then jumped directly to the NBA, without playing collegiate ball. Several such players have excelled in the professional game.
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[edit] History
[edit] The 1974 Draft
That changed in the 1974 NBA Draft when the Philadelphia 76ers drafted forward/center Darryl Dawkins with the fifth pick out of Maynard Evans High School in Florida. Dawkins was a controversial player; most widely noted for his backboard-shattering slam dunks, his eccentric nature, and his physical play. He (along with Julius Erving) led the 76ers to the NBA Finals in 1977 (succumbing to the Portland Trail Blazers in six games). However his career soon stagnated, and Dawkins never enjoyed the level of NBA success that many envisioned he would.
Another high-schooler, selected in the second round of the 1975 NBA Draft, was Bill Willoughby, who was taken by Atlanta Hawks. He went on to play in the league for several years, though never was more than a journeyman player.
[edit] Moses Malone
The most prominent high-schooler to play in the NBA prior to the 1990s was Moses Malone. Malone was hired by the Utah Stars of the ABA in 1974; and played with the Stars and the Spirit of St. Louis until the NBA and ABA merged in 1976. He was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the ABA dispersal draft but traded to the Buffalo Braves, and then sent to the Houston Rockets. In Houston he was the league MVP in 1981, and led the Rockets to the Finals (where they lost to the Boston Celtics). He was also MVP in 1982.
In the 1982 off-season, Malone was traded to the 76ers. He was acquired as a replacement for Daryl Dawkins, whom the Sixers had become disenchanted with (and shipped off to the New Jersey Nets that same offseason). The trade was a wise one for Philadelphia, as Malone (along with Dr. J, Bobby Jones, Maurice Cheeks and Andrew Toney) won the NBA title the following summer, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. Malone played for 12 more seasons, retiring in 1995; and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.
[edit] 1976–1995
After Dawkins, no high schoolers went to the NBA for twenty years; though several players (such as Lloyd Daniels and Shawn Kemp) were selected who had enrolled in college but never played in a college game. Kemp was by far the most successful of these; he was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in 1989 and would later lead them to the 1996 Finals (where they would lose to the Chicago Bulls). Despite the play of Kemp, the stigma against high-school players in the NBA remained.
[edit] 1995–2005
That changed in 1995 when Kevin Garnett announced his intentions to forgo college, and declared himself eligible for the 1995 NBA Draft.
The move was highly controversial; the conventional wisdom at the time was that high-schoolers were neither emotionally nor physically mature enough for the rigors of the NBA game. There was rampant speculation as to which NBA team would be daring enough to select Garnett. On draft day, Garnett was selected with the #5 pick in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves. He has since justified the pick, leading the Timberwolves to playoff prominence. In 2004, the Wolves advanced to the Western Conference Finals, before losing to the Lakers. Garnett was named Most Valuable Player that year.
In 1996, two notable players made the jump from high school to the NBA. The first was Kobe Bryant, selected by the Charlotte Hornets and traded almost immediately to the Los Angeles Lakers; the second was Jermaine O'Neal, selected by the Trail Blazers (and traded in 2000 to the Indiana Pacers). In 1997, another All-Star caliber player, Tracy McGrady was selected by the Toronto Raptors. In 1998, three high-schoolers were drafted; the most successful of these are Al Harrington and Rashard Lewis. Darius Miles became the highest high school player selected with the third pick in the 2000, until the following year.
In 2001, Kwame Brown (selected by the Washington Wizards) became the first high-schooler to be selected with the number one pick in the draft; since then, LeBron James (2003) and Dwight Howard (2004) have also been selected with the first pick. Other notable high-schoolers include Amare Stoudemire (2002) and Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry (2001.
[edit] 2005 and beyond
In 2005, the NBA and the players' union agreed upon a new collective bargaining agreement, which requires that:
- The minimum age for entry into the NBA is 19; players must have their nineteenth (or later) birthday in the calendar year of the draft in order to be eligible;
- U.S. players must be at least one year removed from high school.
The terms of the new CBA essentially ended the practice of drafting high school players, starting in the 2006 NBA Draft. The rules did not apply to the 2005 NBA Draft, and several high schoolers (most notably Martell Webster, Monta Ellis and Gerald Green) were selected.
[edit] The controversy
Despite the success of numerous high-school players drafted since 1995; the entry of high-schoolers into the NBA remains controversial--as evidenced by the league and the union agreeing to ban the practice. Many say the influx of high-schoolers into the NBA, bypassing college, has caused the collegiate game to deteriorate. Many point out that the collegiate level is useful at "filtering" out players who can dominate against weak competition in high school, but who cannot succeed at a higher level of play. Even among the high-school players who have been successful; many of them took longer to become productive NBA stars than have rookies with four years of college experience. And some question the message that skipping college sends to youth. Furthermore, unlike baseball and hockey (which accept high-schoolers without reservation), basketball has for a long time not had an established farm system in which to groom young players.
On the other hand, others argue that the success of players like Malone, Garnett, Bryant, O'Neal, and Stoudemire demonstrates that there is no valid reason to exclude high-school players. Many professional sports (such as tennis) permit competitors who are still in high school; with little ill effect. Outside of the United States the college sports system is largely unknown and it is routine for elite professional teams in sports such as soccer and cricket to include players of college age; for example, Ronaldo and Marta were both FIFA World Player of the Year (respectively for men and women) at 20. Further, it is claimed by many that the NBA's alleged use of college hoops as an unpaid farm system is unfair, and that the ban on 18-year-olds entering the NBA may violate antitrust law. However, it has been established by U.S. courts that age limits are legal if part of a collective bargaining agreement. Football player Maurice Clarett lost a lawsuit against the NFL concerning this very matter on the grounds mentioned here. It is also frequently pointed out that neither a college degree, nor the academic skills needed to succeed in college, are required to play professional basketball; and that requiring academically-marginal athletes to attend college in order to participate in pro sports makes no sense.
