Jumping from High School to the NBA

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Jumping from High School to the NBA

Ever since Kevin Garnett, a teenager who by-passed college, was drafted as the fifth overall pick in the 1995 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft, more and more high school teenagers have been making the jump straight to the pros. Since the league draft of 1995, 17 first round picks have been high school players. This means that about 7 percent of first round draft picks in the NBA have been high school teens skipping out on their college education to make the jump to the NBA (Chylinski).

Basketball players entering the draft out of high school have been on the minds of NBA Commissioner David Stern and basketball fans across the world for the past few years. For several years, Stern has wanted to establish a minimum age requirement of 20 for players jumping to the NBA, where currently high school players can enter the NBA draft the year of their high school graduation. However, the Player’s Association is unwilling to budge on the topic, which has caused Commissioner Stern to basically give up on his campaign (Chylinski).

The group of high school players that have made the decision to jump to the NBA has its share of impact players and duds. Of the 14 players, five of them who were selected prior to last year’s draft have a pro career scoring average of over ten points. Of the remaining nine players, one is no longer in the league. Although the other eight are not putting up big numbers, they all have great potential (Head to Head). While some of these players may develop into solid NBA players and some may not, this may be the same scenario for players with college or overseas experience. From which ever point of view a critic may look at the situation, making the jump h...

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...me cases, the flash and glamour of an NBA career is all too tempting to pass up.

There may be as many as five high schoolers taken in this year’s NBA Draft, and all of them are expected to go in the first round (Head to Head). Just another growing number that goes to show how increasing popular this trend is becoming amongst high schoolers across the nation.

Works Cited

Head to Head. “From High School to the NBA: Great Move or Bad Pass?” 15 Mar. 2004 <http://www.brainevent.com/be/TheNews/head_to_head/20010321/index_html>.

Chylinski, Patrick. Inside Hoops. “Preps to the Pros.” 3 July 2003. 16 Mar. 2004 <http://www.insidehoops.com/nba-from-prep-070303.shtml>.

Broussard, Chris. “Basketball: U.S. teen players now old pros at stardom.” The International Herald Tribune Online. 12 Dec. 2003. 16 Mar. 2004 <http:// www.iht.com/articles/121243.html>.

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