The NBA’s One and Done rule has been a controversial addition to the league’s eligibility requirements since its conception in 2005. It states potential draftees must play one season of college basketball or in a professional international league for one season to be eligible for the NBA. Fans have expressed distaste for this rule and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has recently acknowledged the growing need for change. Let’s explore the flaws with this rule and why it would benefit all parties if it is dismantled.
It Takes Away Educational Opportunities
1/3 of the first-round selections in this year’s NBA draft were freshmen. The case can be made they would have been drafted in the first round anyways straight out of high school. But they wasted a year of their potential pro career to follow the One and Done rule. This creates an educational issue, as they get full-ride scholarships to nice colleges and treat school as a side task. The NBA is their main priority. Meanwhile, there are plenty of student-athletes who would use those scholarships to get a degree. Getting rid of the rule would allow those athletes to get an education through a full-ride scholarship. This would also benefit freshmen first-round selections like Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett, as they’d get drafted a full year before they did with the One and Done rule.
Injury Risks
Competing in the NCAA is no joke — you must play good basketball to keep your draft stock up and play full speed whenever March Madness rolls around. This is especially rough on potential first-round picks, who are expected to put up solid averages and gain lots of wins. This nonstop grind is tough on the body and every star is one play away from getting injured and ruining their chance of getting drafted in June. This was almost the case with superstar Zion Williamson — who was the lopsided favorite to get picked first in the 2019 Draft. Though he went first, he had a scary injury in February that sidelined him for 3 weeks, which made many realize his size could be a liability. There is no reason for this kind of situation to happen. It would benefit NBA teams and potential draftees if they could just take them after their senior year of high school.
Players Miss A Year of NBA Action
While some freshmen take a year of college ball to prepare themselves for the NBA (which is understandable), a solid number of freshmen draftees are NBA-ready right out of high school. Without the rule, they would be able to spend an extra year learning the ins and outs of being a professional athlete. They could build chemistry with their team and coaches during this time as well. Instead, they spend a year in a college program that differs vastly from the operations of an NBA franchise and risk injury while they’re at it.
Fans Miss A Year of Watching Them
Three prolific players in NBA history in Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and Lebron James came right out of high school. Lebron had the best rookie year out of those three — averaging 21 points a game one year removed from his senior year of high school. More importantly, he put a dying Cleveland Cavaliers franchise back on the map with his explosive Rookie of The Year campaign. NBA fans would‘ve had to wait another year to see him if the rule was in place when he was drafted. Today, we are consistently missing out on watching young stars early because of the One and Done rule.
Players Must Wait to Get Paid
Another controversial topic is whether the NCAA should pay the players who make them millions of dollars, but the reality is they don’t. So, they play a full year of nearly pro-level basketball without earning a salary. If they don’t have a solid season, they could lose out on millions because they fall further in the draft than they would have straight out of high school. The point is, first-round draftees are losing millions of dollars every year simply because of the One and Done rule.
The NCAA Is the Sole Winner Here
Players are forced to play at a high level and contribute to their school — as to keep their draft stock high. Schools give them housing with no salary and in turn reap hundreds of millions of dollars from their athletic programs. Players essentially have a full-time job with no pay. When a business of this magnitude only has one beneficiary, you know something must change.
There are a lot more issues with this twisted prerequisite, but these should suffice. The One and Done rule needs to go — for the fans, ownership, and players.
