NBA may soon be done with one and done rule, proposes change to age requirement
The close of the one-and-done era in college basketball may be in sight.
USA Today and The Associated Press, citing unnamed sources, reported the NBA has formally proposed changing the draft-eligible age requirement from 19 to 18 .
According to the reports, the league and the National Basketball Players Association will review the proposal next week and this could begin the process of changing the age limit in time for the 2022 NBA Draft.
Both sides must agree to the change. College basketball doesn’t have a vote but it provided a voice in 2018 when former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke out against the 19-year-old age limit.
Rice was the chair of the Commission on College Basketball tasked with making recommendations in the wake of the FBI investigation that focused on NCAA coaches being bribed to steer prospects toward certain agents and apparel companies.
“One-and-done has played a significant role in corrupting and destabilizing college basketball, restricting the freedom of choice of players, and undermining the relationship of college basketball to the mission of higher education,” according to the Rice Commission report.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver signaled last July that the league was ready to change the age limit.
“My personal view is that we’re ready to make that change,” he said. “…(I)n essence, the college community is saying, ‘We do not want those players anymore.’ I mean that sort of tips the scale in my mind that we should taking a serious look at lowering our age to 18.”
The rule went into practice in 2006, when the NBA and union agreed on the 19-year-old age limit for draft eligibility. That essentially mean top prospects had to spend at least one year playing in college.
The past nine overall top picks in the NBA Draft were college freshman, including Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins in 2014.
This story was originally published February 22, 2019 at 12:35 PM.