Josh White
At a recent NBA promotional event in New York, NBA Commissioner David Stern discussed his desire to make changes to the NBA Draft limit.
“We would love to add a year, but that’s not something that the players’ association has been willing to agree to,” Stern said Tuesday at a promotional event for the NBA’s “Green Week”.
During last summer’s NBA Lockout and labor unrest, the NBA owners tried to make changes to the minimum age requirements as stated in their collective bargaining agreement. Unfortunately, the NBA Players Union and the Owners weren’t able to come to an agreement during their negotiations, but it’s something the Commissioner’s Office would still like to work towards.
“[The Union] would probably say, ‘What would you give us?’ ” he said.
The Players Union has agreed to form a committee to discuss changes, which would more than likely include the owners, players and likely the NCAA itself. The effectiveness of any committee would hinge on the demands of the players, who seem to have all the leverage in any form of negotiation.
The current rules state that to be eligible for the NBA Draft, a player must be at least 19 years of age and one year removed from his high school graduating class. Stern, much like NCAA President Mark Emmert, would rather have a system that would raise the minimum age to 20 and to be two years removed from high school.
Any changes on the NBA’s end would be the end result of negotiations with the NBA Players Union, and concessions would certainly have to be made in other areas of the game, which could be something that owners may be unwilling to grant. But instituting a so-called “Two and Done” rule could be a major boon to college basketball, especially the Cats.
Coach John Calipari has made the current system work to his advantage, as evidence by last Monday’s national championship and two other deep tourney runs for Big Blue. The trade-off has been seeing players leave after a year of play, eschewing the emotional attachment that we’ve shared with players in the past.
