Kareem: Minimum age should be 21

[Dan's Brain]

has something specific actually happened that has prompted Kareem to make calls for this?

Did Korleone Young go and murder a bitch?

[Andrew]

The article doesn't say, but perhaps at some point during his appearance he was asked about the age limit/young players today and LeBron's Game 5 performance.

[Riot]

The NBA wouldn't be saying go to college they are just saying you can't play in the NBA until you are 21. Like you said benji there are a lot of options available to players coming out of high school. They could try their hand at college or they could go overseas and play ball. Both would be beneficial to the league which in the end is all the NBA cares about anyways. The idea of letting them play in the NBDL is an intriguing idea but I'm not sure how many young players would want to do that when they could go to Europe and make more money.

[Andrew]

So why restrict their options by raising the minimum age?

[NovU]

I don't know how forcing younger players to go to Europe is a good thing while the purpose of increasing the minimum age lies in post education. Tying up the players at NBDL sounds not right either, giving up more talents to this league pretty much ruins another purpose of NCAA's gain via age restriction. Ultimately, increasing age limit to 21 does not likely to solve too many problems, but only wastes good years of player's NBA career time when many of them clearly possess enough talent, skillset and maturity to play at NBA level basketball. That is a waste from fan's standpoint as well.

[Andrew]

At the end of the day, players should have the right to try their luck at the NBA and while everything that can be done to help players succeed in terms of sound advice and multiple paths to the NBA, you're never going to prevent failure. No matter what you do, some players are always going to lack the skill and talent, the motivation and work ethic, the common sense and maturity and all those other things they need to succeed in the NBA. For those players, it wouldn't matter what path they took, how old they were at the time and whether or not they went to college. It's just the way it's going to go for some people.

[Riot]

And perhaps you are right, Andrew. It is just a theory.

[benji]

Think of it this way Riot. Let's pretend Leon Smith wasn't insane and mentally a nine year old. Despite busting out of the league he made $2 million pre-tax. If he was someone level headed like a Dwight Howard, he could have still gone to college at age 23 and leveraged part of those riches into wise investments to where at age 35 when where a playing career would have ended he'd have a college degree or two and possibly a small business. That'd be better off than an Antoine Walker who spent two years in college or Latrell Sprewell who came into the NBA at 22 and are now almost as in debt as most of the governments in the West.

And if we're honest, the only chance Smith had to change his status in life was on the court.

[koberulz]

Tying up the players at NBDL sounds not right either, giving up more talents to this league pretty much ruins another purpose of NCAA's gain via age restriction.

It's not the NBA's job to make sure the college system has players.

[NovU]

Exactly.