NBA high school draftees
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The National Basketball Association high school draftees are player who have been drafted into the NBA straight out of high school without playing basketball at the collegiate level (also known as going prep-to-pro). The NBA 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 1975 Draft
In the 1975 NBA Draft when the Philadelphia 76ers drafted forward/center Darryl Dawkins with the fifth pick out of Maynard Evans High School in Orlando, Florida, he became one of the first players to jump from high school to the pros. 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 1979, and led the Rockets to the Finals in 1981 (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 Darryl 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).
[edit] 1995–2005
In 1995 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. On draft day, Garnett was selected with the #5 pick in the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Garnett led the Timberwolves to eight consecutive playoff berths and was a multiple All-Star during his time with the team. 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 and Shaun Livingston ((Clippers)) 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;
- Players who completed basketball eligibility at a U.S. high school, regardless of their nationality, must be at least one year removed from high school.
The terms of the new agreement 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 were selected, including Martell Webster, Monta Ellis, Andrew Bynum, Gerald Green, and Amir Johnson, who became the last player in NBA history to be drafted straight out of high school.
[edit] The controversy
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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 many of the high-school players who have been successful took longer to become productive NBA stars than 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 not until recently had an established farm system in which to groom young players.
On the other hand, others argue that the success of recent players 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. In European basketball, Ricky Rubio made his debut in the Spanish ACB (one of the top domestic leagues outside the NBA) days before his 15th birthday and in the Euroleague at 16, and current NBA star Andrei Kirilenko made his debut in the Russian Superleague (also a top-tier European league) shortly before turning 16. 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. Consequently, some say, requiring academically marginal athletes to attend college in order to participate in professional sports benefits none of the interested parties.
