The NFL, for decades, was the only sport to have an age restriction, and it has helped the product as a whole. Surprisingly, the other league commissioners didn't follow suit at first.
We can throw out the NHL and MLB because of their well-planned developmental leagues that allow teens who are drafted to mature without the huge spotlight of the professional stage.
That leaves the NBA, which has a joke for a developmental league. That is the one thing the NBA has lacked, a place to send "project" players. For every Kobe Bryant, there's an Ousmane Cisse.
When negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement started, Commissioner David Stern did the only thing he could and implemented an age restriction. His idea was approved, and was put into effect last season. The NBA's rule is that the age limit for entering the Draft is 19 years old. Players must be at least one year removed from high school and 19 years of age (by the end of that calendar year) before entering the draft.
The eligibility rule change was probably made because of the slow process of weighing down the league that had been done by high school players over the last six seasons.
Kevin Garnett was drafted No. 5 overall in 1995. Before him, only two high school seniors were drafted in the previous 20 years.
After Garnett, there were 38 selected over the span of the next 11 drafts. A majority of those players had no impact on the league until they were 20 or 21, if they even succeeded at all.
So what's the harm in enforcing a rule that allows players to mature like normal teenagers, while also improving basketball skills?
Now, instead of being basketball players who happen to go to high school, the top prospects in the country will now have to do well in school and on standardized tests to gain acceptance to colleges.
Not only does this rule help the NBA long term, it also improves the college basketball scene.
By restricting a player's right to jump to the NBA from high school, the NBA has helped to restore the legitimate superstar to college basketball.
This season, Greg Oden and Kevin Durant are the most prominent names to be affected by the rule, and those two have single-handedly made this college basketball season the most exciting in years.
Throw in North Carolina sharpshooter Wayne Ellington, and it has you wondering what a rule would have done to the 1996-97 college basketball season if Kobe Bryant would have played for Duke.
Even though I selfishly enjoy the rule as a fan, there is also a trickle down effect that could help pre-teen athletes in the long run.
In a perfect world, knowing, as an athlete that you have to do well in high school might make you want to stay in college longer rather than the one-year requirement, and make these restrictions almost non-existent.
